Monitoring and reporting service performance in roaming scenario

ABSTRACT

A HPCF receives from an application function, a first message requesting to subscribe to a QoS event for a data flow of a wireless device. The first message comprises a first information element indicating a first QoS event; and a second information element indicating a first QoS value for the first QoS event. The HPCF determines a QoS reporting policy for the data flow based on the first QoS event and the first QoS value. The QoS reporting policy comprises a second QoS event and a second QoS value. The HPCF sends to a VPCF, a second message comprising the QoS reporting policy. The HPCF receives from the VPCF, a measurement result comprising: a third information element indicating an occurrence of the second QoS event; and a fourth information element indicating a measured QoS value. The HPCF sends the measurement result to the application function.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 16/225,191, filed on Dec. 19, 2018, which was based on and claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of a U.S. Provisional application Ser.No. 62/616,389, filed Jan. 11, 2018, in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice and of a U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 62/617,498, filedJan. 15, 2018, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present disclosureare described herein with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example 5G system architecture as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example 5G System architecture as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a system diagram of an example wireless device and a networknode in a 5G system as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of an example wireless device as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B depict two registration management state models inUE 100 and AMF 155 as per an aspect of embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B depict two connection management state models in UE100 and AMF 155 as per an aspect of embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 is diagram for classification and marking traffic as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 is an example call flow for a UE registrationprocedure as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is an example call flow diagrams as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is an example call flow diagrams as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is an example call flow diagrams as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is an example call flow diagrams as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is an example table depicting performance requirements for lowlatency and high reliability services as per an aspect of an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is an example call flow diagrams as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a figure showing an example protocol stack of the Rxreference point as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 17 is an example call flow diagram as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 is an example call flow diagram as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 20 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 21 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 22 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 23 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLES

Example embodiments of the present invention enable implementation ofenhanced features and functionalities in 5G systems. More particularly,the embodiments of the technology disclosed herein may relate tomonitoring and reporting service performance and/or QoS, and theembodiments of the technology disclosed herein may relate to roamingscenarios for monitoring and reporting service performance and/or QoS.Throughout the present disclosure, UE, wireless device, and mobiledevice are used interchangeably. Throughout the present disclosure, basestation, (Radio) Access Network ((R)AN), Next Generation Radio AccessNetwork (NG-RAN), New radio Node B (gNB), Next Generation eNodeB(ng-eNBs) are used interchangeably.

The following acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure:

5G 5th generation mobile networks

5GC 5G Core Network

5GS 5G System

5G-AN 5G Access Network

5QI 5G QoS Indicator

AF Application Function

AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate

AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

AN Access Network

APN Access Point Name

ARP Allocation and Retention Priority

CCNF Common Control Network Functions

CN Core Network

CP Control Plane

DPI Deep Packet Inspection

DL Downlink

DN Data Network

DN-AAA Data Network Authentication Authorization and Accounting

DNN Data Network Name

gNB NR NodeB

GW Gateway

HSS Home Subscriber Server

IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

IP Internet Protocol

IP-CAN IP Connectivity Access Network

L2 Layer 2 (data link layer)

L3 Layer 3 (network layer)

LADN Local Area Data Network

MICO Mobile Initiated Connection Only

N3IWF Non-3GPP InterWorking Function

NAI Network Access Identifier

NAS Non Access Stratum

NEF Network Exposure Function

NF Network Function

NR New Radio

NG-RAN NR Radio Access Network

NRF Network Repository Function

NSI Network Slice Instance

NSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

NSSF Network Slice Selection Function

PCC Policy and Charging Control

PCF Policy Control Function

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

PDN Packet Data Network

PDU Packet Data Unit

PEI Permanent Equipment Identifier

RAN Radio Access Network

RB Radio Bearer

RFC Request For Comments

RLC Radio Link Control

RRC Radio Resource Control

RM Registration Management

SBA Service Based Architecture

SDU Service Data Unit

SWF Session Management Function

SMSF SMS Function

SN Sequence Number

S-NSSAI Single Network Slice Selection Assistance information

SRB Signaling Radio Bearer carrying control plane data

SUPI Subscriber Permanent Identifier

TDF Traffic Detection Function

TA Tracking Area

TAI Tracking Area Identity

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

UDM Unified Data Management

UDP User Datagram Protocol

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UL CL Uplink Classifier

UPF User Plane Function

Example FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 depict a 5G system comprising of accessnetworks and 5G core network. An example 5G access network may comprisean access network connecting to a 5G core network. An access network maycomprise a NG-RAN 105 and/or non-3GPP AN 165. An example 5G core networkmay connect to one or more 5G access networks 5G-AN and/or NG-RANs. 5Gcore network may comprise functional elements or network functions as inexample FIG. 1 and example FIG. 2 where interfaces are employed forcommunication among the functional elements and/or network elements.

A network function may be a processing function in a network, which hasa functional behavior and interfaces. A network function may beimplemented either as a network element on a dedicated hardware, and/ora network node as depicted in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, or as a softwareinstance running on a dedicated hardware and/or shared hardware, or as avirtualized function instantiated on an appropriate platform.

Access and mobility management function, AMF 155, may include thefollowing functionalities (some of the AMF functionalities may besupported in a single instance of an AMF 155): termination of RAN CPinterface (N2), termination of NAS (N1), NAS ciphering and integrityprotection, registration management, connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, lawful intercept (for AMF 155 eventsand interface to LI system), provide transport for session management,SM messages between UE 100 and SMF 160, transparent proxy for routing SMmessages, access authentication, access authorization, provide transportfor SMS messages between UE 100 and SMSF, security anchor function, SEA,interaction with the AUSF 150 and the UE 100, receiving the intermediatekey established as a result of the UE 100 authentication process,security context management, SCM, that receives a key from the SEA thatit uses to derive access network specific keys.

The AMF 100 may support non-3GPP access networks through N2 interfacewith N3IWF 170, NAS signaling with a UE 100 over N3IWF 170,authentication of UEs connected over N3IWF 170, management of mobility,authentication, and separate security context state(s) of a UE 100connected via non-3GPP access 165 or connected via 3GPP and non-3GPPaccesses 105, 165 simultaneously, support of a coordinated RM contextvalid over 3GPP and non 3GPP accesses 105, 165, support of CM managementcontexts for the UE 100 for connectivity over non-3GPP access. Some offunctionalities described above may be supported in an instance of anetwork slice.

In an example, an AMF 155 region may comprise of one or multiple AMF 100sets. AMF 155 set comprises of some AMFs 155 that serve a given areaand/or network slice(s). In an example, multiple AMF 155 sets may be perAMF 155 region and/or network slice(s). Application identifier may be anidentifier that may be mapped to a specific application trafficdetection rule. Configured NSSAI may be an NSSAI that has beenprovisioned in a UE 100. DN 115 access identifier (DNAI), for a DNN, maybe an identifier of a user plane access to a DN 115. Initialregistration may be related to a UE 100 registration in RM-DEREGISTERED500, 520 state. N2AP UE 100 association may be a logical per UE 100association between a 5G AN node and an AMF 155. N2AP UE-TNLA-bindingmay be a binding between a N2AP UE 100 association and a specifictransport network layer, TNL association for a given UE 100.

The session management function, SMF 160, may include one or more of thefollowing functionalities (one or more of the SMF 160 functionalitiesmay be supported in a single instance of a SMF 160): session management(e.g. session establishment, modify and release, including tunnelmaintain between UPF 110 and AN 105 node), UE 100 IP address allocation& management (including optional authorization), selection and controlof UP function(s), configuration of traffic steering at UPF 110 to routetraffic to proper destination, termination of interfaces towards policycontrol functions, control part of policy enforcement and QoS. lawfulintercept (for SM events and interface to LI System), termination of SMparts of NAS messages, downlink data notification, initiation of ANspecific SM information, sent via AMF 155 over N2 to (R)AN 105,determination of SSC mode of a session, roaming functionality, handlinglocal enforcement to apply QoS SLAs (VPLMN), charging data collectionand charging interface (VPLMN), lawful intercept (in VPLMN for SM eventsand interface to LI System), support for interaction with external DN115 for transport of signaling for PDU sessionauthorization/authentication by external DN 115. One or more offunctionalities described above may be required to be supported in aninstance of a network slice.

The user plane function, UPF 110, may include one or more of thefollowing functionalities (some of the UPF 110 functionalities may besupported in a single instance of a UPF 110): anchor point forIntra-/Inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), external PDU session pointof interconnect to DN 115, packet routing & forwarding, packetinspection and user plane part of policy rule enforcement, lawfulintercept (UP collection), traffic usage reporting, uplink classifier tosupport routing traffic flows to a data network, branching point tosupport multi-homed PDU session(s), QoS handling for user plane, uplinktraffic verification (SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packetmarking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering anddownlink data notification triggering. One or more of functionalitiesdescribed above may be supported in an instance of a network slice.

The UE 100 IP address management may include allocation and release ofthe UE 100 IP address as well as renewal of the allocated IP address,where applicable. The UE 100 sets the requested PDU type during the PDUsession establishment procedure based on its IP stack capabilities andconfiguration. In an example, the SMF 160 may select PDU type of a PDUsession as follows: If the SMF 160 receives a request with PDU type setto IP, the SMF 160 may select either PDU type IPv4 or IPv6 based on DNNconfiguration and operator policies. A SMF 160 may provide a cause valueto the UE 100 to indicate whether the other IP version is supported onthe DNN. If the other IP version is supported, UE 100 may requestanother PDU Session to the same DNN for the other IP version. If the SMF160 receives a request for PDU type IPv4 or IPv6 and the requested IPversion is supported by the DNN the SMF selects the requested PDU type.

In an example embodiment, the 5GC elements and UE 100 support thefollowing mechanisms: during PDU session establishment procedure, theSMF 160 may send the IP address to the UE 100 via SM NAS signaling. TheIPv4 address allocation and/or IPv4 parameter configuration via DHCPv4may be employed once PDU session is established. IPv6 prefix allocationmay be supported via IPv6 stateless autoconfiguration, if IPv6 issupported. IPv6 parameter configuration via stateless DHCPv6 may besupported.

The 5GC may support the allocation of a static IPv4 address and/or astatic IPv6 prefix based on subscription information in the UDM 140 orbased on the configuration on a per-subscriber, per-DNN basis.

User plane function(s) (UPF(s) 110) may handle the user plane path ofPDU sessions. A UPF 110 that provides the interface to a data networksupports the functionality of a PDU session anchor.

The policy control function, PCF 135, may support unified policyframework to govern network behavior, provide policy rules to controlplane function(s) to enforce them, implement a front end to accesssubscription information relevant for policy decisions in a user datarepository (UDR).

The network exposure function, NEF 125, may provide a means to securelyexpose the services and capabilities provided by the 3GPP networkfunctions, translate between information exchanged with the AF 145 andinformation exchanged with the internal network functions, receiveinformation from other network functions.

The NF repository function, NRF 130 may support service discoveryfunction that receives NF discovery request from NF instance, providethe information of the discovered NF instances (be discovered) to the NFinstance, and maintain the information of available NF instances andtheir supported services.

The unified data management, UDM 140, may comprise of the applicationfront end (FE) that includes the UDM-FE that is in charge of processingcredentials, location management, subscription management and the PCF135 in charge of policy control; and the user data repository, UDR, thatstores data required for functionalities provided by UDM-FE, plus policyprofiles required by the PCF 135.

The NS SF may support selecting the set of network slice instancesserving the UE 100, determining the Allowed NSSAI, determining the AMF155 set to be employed to serve the UE 100, and/or, based onconfiguration, determining a list of candidate AMF(s) 155, possibly byquerying the NRF 130.

The data stored in the UDR include at least user subscription data,including at least subscription identifiers, security credentials,access and mobility related subscription data and/or session relatedsubscription data and/or policy data.

The AUSF 150 may support authentication server function (AUSF). Thefunctionality of N3IWF 170 in case of untrusted non-3GPP access 165 mayinclude at least one or more of the following: support of IPsec tunnelestablishment with the UE; The N3IWF 170 may terminate the IKEv2/IPsecprotocols with the UE 100 over NWu and may relay over N2 the informationneeded to authenticate the UE 100 and authorize its access to the 5Gcore network; Termination of N2 and N3 interfaces to 5G Core Network forControl-Plane and user-plane respectively; Relaying uplink and downlinkcontrol-plane NAS (Ni) signaling between the UE 100 and AMF 155;Handling of N2 signaling from SMF 160 (relayed by AMF 155) related toPDU sessions and QoS; Establishment of IPsec Security Association (IPsecSA) to support PDU session traffic; Relaying uplink and downlinkuser-plane packets between the UE 100 and UPF 110; Enforcing QoScorresponding to N3 packet marking, considering QoS requirementsassociated to such marking received over N2; N3 user-plane packetmarking in the uplink; and/or local mobility anchor within untrustednon-3GPP access networks 165 using MOBIKE; Supporting AMF 155 selection.

The application function, AF 145, may interact with the 3GPP corenetwork to provide services. Based on operator deployment, applicationfunctions may be trusted by the operator to interact directly withrelevant network functions. Application functions not allowed by theoperator to access directly the network functions may use the externalexposure framework (via the NEF 125) to interact with relevant networkfunctions.

The control plane interface between the (R)AN 105 and the 5G core maysupport connection of multiple different kinds of AN(s) (e.g. 3GPP RAN105, N3IWF 170 for Un-trusted access 165) to the 5GC via a uniquecontrol plane protocol. A single N2 AP protocol may be employed for boththe 3GPP access 105 and non-3GPP access 165; and decoupling between AMF155 and other functions such as SMF 160 that may need to control theservices supported by AN(s) (e.g. control of the UP resources in the AN105 for a PDU session).

The 5GC may be able to provide policy information from the PCF 135 tothe UE 100. Such policy information may include but not limited to thefollowing: access network discovery & selection policy, UE 100 routeselection policy (URSP) that groups to or more of SSC mode selectionpolicy (SSCMSP), network slice selection policy (NSSP), DNN selectionpolicy, and non-seamless offload policy.

The 5G core network may support the connectivity of a UE 100 vianon-3GPP access networks 165. As shown in example FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B,the registration management, RM may be employed to register orde-register a UE/user 100 with the network, and establish the usercontext in the network. Connection management may be employed toestablish and release the signaling connection between the UE 100 andthe AMF 155.

A UE 100 may need to register with the network to receive services thatrequire registration. Once registered and if applicable the UE 100 mayupdate its registration with the network periodically in order to remainreachable (periodic registration update); or upon mobility (mobilityregistration update); or to update its capabilities or re-negotiateprotocol parameters.

The initial registration procedure as depicted in example FIG. 8 andFIG. 9 may involve execution of network access control functions (e.g.user authentication and access authorization based on subscriptionprofiles in UDM 140). As result of the registration procedure, theidentity of the serving AMF 155 may be registered in UDM 140.

The registration management, RM procedures may be applicable over both3GPP access 105 and non 3GPP access 165.

An example FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B depict the RM states of a UE 100 asobserved by the UE 100 and AMF 155. In an example embodiment, two RMstates may be employed in a UE 100 and the AMF 155 that reflect theregistration status of the UE 100 in the selected PLMN: RM-DEREGISTERED500, and RM-REGISTERED 510. In the RM DEREGISTERED state 500, the UE 100may not be registered with the network. The UE 100 context in AMF 155may not hold valid location or routing information for the UE 100 so theUE 100 is not reachable by the AMF 155. Some UE 100 context may still bestored in the UE 100 and the AMF 155. In the RM REGISTERED state 510,the UE 100 may be registered with the network. In the RM-REGIS TERED 510state, the UE 100 may receive services that require registration withthe network.

In an example embodiment, two RM states may be employed in AMF 155 for aUE 100 that reflect the registration status of the UE 100 in theselected PLMN: RM-DEREGISTERED 520, and RM-REGISTERED 530.

As shown in example FIGS. 6A and 6B, connection management, CM, maycomprise the functions of establishing and releasing a signalingconnection between a UE 100 and the AMF 155 over N1. This signalingconnection may be employed to enable NAS signaling exchange between theUE 100 and a core network. It comprises both the AN signaling connectionbetween the UE 100 and the (R)AN 105 (e.g. RRC connection over 3GPPaccess) and the N2 connection for this UE 100 between the AN and the AMF155.

As depicted in example FIGS. 6A and 6B, two CM states may be employedfor the NAS signaling connectivity of the UE 100 with the AMF 155,CM-IDLE 600, 620 and CM-CONNECTED 610, 630. A UE 100 in CM-IDLE 600state is in RM-REGISTERED 510 state and has no NAS signaling connectionestablished with the AMF 155 over N1. The UE 100 may perform cellselection, cell reselection and PLMN selection. A UE 100 in CM-CONNECTED610 state has a NAS signaling connection with the AMF 155 over N1.

In an example embodiment two CM states may be employed for a UE 100 atthe AMF 155, CM-IDLE 620 and CM-CONNECTED 630.

RRC inactive state may apply to NG-RAN (e.g. it applies to NR and E-UTRAconnected to 5G CN). The AMF 155, based on network configuration, mayprovide assistance information to the NG RAN 105, to assist the NG RAN's105 decision whether the UE 100 is sent to RRC inactive state. When a UE100 is CM-CONNECTED 610 with RRC inactive state, the UE 100 may resumethe RRC connection due to uplink data pending; Mobile initiatedsignaling procedure; As a response to RAN 105 paging; Notifying thenetwork that it has left the RAN 105 notification area.

NAS signaling connection management may include the functions ofestablishing and releasing a NAS signaling connection. NAS signalingconnection establishment function may be provided by the UE 100 and theAMF 155 to establish a NAS signaling connection for a UE 100 in CM-IDLE600 state. The procedure of releasing a NAS signaling connection may beinitiated by the 5G (R)AN 105 node or the AMF 155.

Reachability management of UE 100 may detect whether a UE 100 isreachable and providing UE 100 location (e.g. access node) for thenetwork to reach the UE 100. This may be done by paging UE 100 and UE100 location tracking. The UE 100 location tracking may include both UE100 registration area tracking and UE 100 reachability tracking. Suchfunctionalities may be either located at 5GC (in case of CM-IDLE 620state) or NG-RAN 105 (in case of CM-CONNECTED 630 state). The UE 100 andthe AMF 155 may negotiate UE 100 reachability characteristics in CM-IDLE600, 620 state during registration and registration update procedures.

Two UE 100 reachability categories may be negotiated between a UE 100and an AMF 155 for CM-IDLE 600, 620 state. 1) UE 100 reachabilityallowing mobile device terminated data while the UE 100 is CM-IDLE 600mode. 2) Mobile initiated connection only (MICO) mode. The 5GC maysupport a PDU connectivity service that provides exchange of PDUsbetween a UE 100 and a data network identified by a DNN. The PDUconnectivity service may be supported via PDU sessions that areestablished upon request from the UE 100.

A PDU session may support one or more PDU session types. PDU sessionsmay be established (e.g. upon UE 100 request), modified (e.g. upon UE100 and 5GC request) and released (e.g. upon UE 100 and 5GC request)using NAS SM signaling exchanged over Ni between the UE 100 and the SMF160. Upon request from an application server, the 5GC may be able totrigger a specific application in the UE 100. When receiving thattrigger message, the UE 100 may pass it to the identified application inthe UE 100. The identified application in the UE 100 may establish a PDUsession to a specific DNN.

The 5G QoS model may support a QoS flow based framework as shown inexample FIG. 7. The 5G QoS model may support both QoS flows that requirea guaranteed flow bit rate and QoS flows that may not require aguaranteed flow bit rate. The 5G QoS model may support reflective QoS.The QoS model may comprise flow mapping or packet marking at the UPF(CN_UP) 110, AN 105 and/or UE 100. Packets may arrive from and/ordestined to the application/service layer 730 of UE 100, UPF (CN_UP)110, and/or the AF 145.

QoS flow may be a granularity of QoS differentiation in a PDU session. AQoS Flow ID, QFI, may be employed to identify a QoS flow in the 5Gsystem. User plane traffic with the same QFI within a PDU session mayreceive the same traffic forwarding treatment. The QFI may be carried inan encapsulation header on N3 (and N9) e.g. without any changes to theend-to-end packet header. It may be applied to PDUs with different typesof payload. The QFI may be unique within a PDU session.

The QoS parameters of a QoS flow may be provided to the (R)AN as a QoSprofile over N2 at PDU session or at QoS flow establishment and whenNG-RAN is used at every time the user plane is activated. A default QoSrule may be required for every PDU session. The SMF 160 may allocate theQFI for a QoS flow and may derive its QoS parameters from theinformation provided by the PCF. When applicable, the SMF 160 mayprovide the QFI together with the QoS profile containing the QoSparameters of a QoS flow to the (R)AN 105.

5G QoS flow may be a granularity for QoS forwarding treatment in a 5Gsystem. Traffic mapped to the same 5G QoS flow may receive the sameforwarding treatment (e.g. scheduling policy, queue management policy,rate shaping policy, RLC configuration, and/or the like). Providingdifferent QoS forwarding treatment may require separate 5G QoS flow.

A 5G QoS indicator may be a scalar that is employed as a reference to aspecific QoS forwarding behavior (e.g. packet loss rate, packet delaybudget) to be provided to a 5G QoS flow. This may be implemented in theaccess network by the 5QI referencing node specific parameters thatcontrol the QoS forwarding treatment (e.g. scheduling weights, admissionthresholds, queue management thresholds, link layer protocolconfiguration, and/or the like.).

5GC may support edge computing and may enable operator(s) and 3rd partyservices to be hosted close to the UE's access point of attachment. The5G core network may select a UPF 110 close to the UE 100 and may executethe traffic steering from the UPF 110 to the local data network via a N6interface. This may be based on the UE's 100 subscription data, UE 100location, the information from application function AF 145, policy orother related traffic rules. The 5G core network may expose networkinformation and capabilities to an edge computing application function.The functionality support for edge computing may include local routingwhere the 5G core network may select UPF 110 to route the user trafficto the local data network, traffic steering where the 5G core networkselects the traffic to be routed to the applications in the local datanetwork, session and service continuity to enable UE 100 and applicationmobility, user plane selection and reselection, e.g. based on input fromapplication function, network capability exposure where 5G core networkand application function may provide information to each other via NEF,QoS and charging where PCF may provide rules for QoS control andcharging for the traffic routed to the local data network, support oflocal area data network where 5G core network may provide support toconnect to the LADN in a certain area where the applications aredeployed.

An example 5G system may be a 3GPP system comprising of 5G accessnetwork 105, 5G core network and a UE 100, and/or the like. AllowedNSSAI may be an NSSAI provided by a serving PLMN during e.g. aregistration procedure, indicating the NSSAI allowed by the network forthe UE 100 in the serving PLMN for the current registration area.

PDU connectivity service may provide exchange of PDUs between a UE 100and a data network. PDU session may be an association between a UE 100and a data network, DN, that provides a PDU connectivity service. Thetype of association may be IP, or Ethernet or unstructured.

Establishment of user plane connectivity to a data network via a networkslice instance(s) comprises of at least two steps. Performing a RMprocedure to select an AMF 155 that supports the required networkslices, and establishing one or more PDU session(s) to the required datanetwork via the network slice instance(s).

The set of network slices for a UE 100 may be changed at any time whilethe UE 100 is registered with a network, and may be initiated by thenetwork, or the UE 100.

A periodic registration update may be UE 100 re-registration at expiryof a periodic registration timer. A requested NSSAI is a NSSAI that theUE 100 may provide to the network. A service based interface mayrepresent how a set of services is provided/exposed by a given NF.

A service continuity may be an uninterrupted user experience of aservice, including the cases where the IP address and/or anchoring pointchange. A session continuity may refer to continuity of a PDU session.For PDU session of IP type session continuity may imply that the IPaddress is preserved for the lifetime of the PDU session. An uplinkclassifier may be a UPF functionality that aims at diverting uplinktraffic, based on filter rules provided by SMF, towards data network.

The 5G system architecture may support data connectivity and servicesenabling deployments to use techniques such as e.g. network functionvirtualization and/or software defined networking. The 5G systemarchitecture may leverage service-based interactions between controlplane (CP) network functions where identified. In 5G systemarchitecture, separation of the user plane (UP) functions from thecontrol plane functions may be considered. A 5G system may enable anetwork function to interact with other NF(s) directly if required.

A 5G system may reduce dependencies between the access network (AN) andthe core network (CN). The architecture may comprise a convergedaccess-agnostic core network with a common AN—CN interface whichintegrates different 3GPP and non-3GPP access types.

A 5G system furthermore may support a unified authentication framework,stateless NFs, where the compute resource is decoupled from the storageresource, capability exposure, and concurrent access to local andcentralized services. To support low latency services and access tolocal data networks, UP functions may be deployed close to the accessnetwork.

A 5G system may support roaming with both home routed traffic as well aslocal breakout traffic in the visited PLMN. An example 5G architecturemay be service-based and the interaction between network functions maybe represented in two ways. (1) FIG. 1 is an example service-basedrepresentation, where network functions within the control plane, mayenable other authorized network functions to access their services. Thisrepresentation may include point-to-point reference points wherenecessary. (2) FIG. 2 is an example reference point representation,showing the interaction between the NF services in the network functionsdescribed by point-to-point reference point (e.g. N11) between any twonetwork functions.

As an example, the control plane of a communication system (e.g. 5G) mayuse service based architecture. The interface/reference point between anAF and a PCF (e.g. Rx interface or Rx reference point) may use HTTPprotocol. Representational State Transfer (REST) may be used as anarchitectural style as appropriate. FIG. 16 is an example figure showingthe protocol stack of the REST-Rx reference point. TCP may provide thecommunication service at the transport layer. An application deliverylayer may provide the transport of the specific applicationcommunication data using HTTP. A specific application communicationlayer may comprise the transport of the JSON content type.

A HTTP request message may have a method/process to indicate to a serverwhat action may be performed by the server. A client and/or a server mayuse one of the following HTTP methods/processes: POST: HTTP POST may beused to create a resource state. A request URI may define the addressresponsible for the creation of the resource. PUT: HTTP PUT may be usedto replace a resource state. The full state of the resource may beprovided in the body of the message. A request URI may define theresource which will be replaced. PATCH: HTTP PATCH method may apply topartial modifications to a resource. A request URI may define theresource which will be modified. GET: HTTP GET may be used to retrieve aresource state. A request URI may define the resource which is queried.DELETE: HTTP DELETE may be used to delete a resource state. A requestURI may define the resource which will be deleted.

Implementation of the existing technologies may have issues insupporting specific services/applications. The existingservice/application may have specific requirements for latency andreliability and may be public safety related. As shown in FIG. 14, thescenarios requiring low latency and high communication serviceavailability may be discrete automation—motion control, discreteautomation and process automation—remote control, etc. The FIG. 14provides example performance requirements for these scenarios. Theoverall service latency may depend on the delay on a radio interface,transmission within the 5G system, transmission to an application serverwhich may be outside the 5G system, and/or data processing. The existingtechnology may not be able to guarantee the QoS of the service in somecases. The application server may measure/detect end-to-end delaybetween the application server and a wireless device. This may have aproblem that the application server may be required to support themeasurement/detection function; and this may have a problem that theapplication server may know the end-to-end delay between the applicationserver and wireless device. The application server may not have thecapability to know which part of delay (e.g. from wireless device toaccess network, access network to core network, or core network to theapplication server) may be a reason causing an end-to-end delay betweenapplication server and a wireless device. Example embodiments provideenhanced mechanisms to monitor and report a service performance and/orQoS of a service between a wireless device and an access network, anaccess network and a core network, and/or a core network to anapplication server. In an example embodiment, a network entity in a 5Gcore network may notify an application server to adjust a servicebehavior.

Implementation of the existing technologies may have issues insupporting specific services/applications in roaming scenario. Theexisting service/application may have specific requirements for latencyand reliability and may be public safety related. As shown in FIG. 14,the scenarios requiring low latency and high communication serviceavailability may be discrete automation—motion control, discreteautomation and process automation—remote control, etc. The FIG. 14provides example performance requirements for these scenarios. Theoverall service latency may depend on the delay on a radio interface,transmission within the 5G system in visited PLMN and home PLMN,transmission to an application server which may be outside the 5Gsystem, and/or data processing. The existing technology may not be ableto guarantee the QoS of the service in some cases. The applicationserver (e.g. HAF in roaming scenario) may measure/detect end-to-enddelay between the application server and a wireless device. This mayhave a problem that the application server may be required to supportthe measurement/detection function; and this may have a problem that theapplication server may know the end-to-end delay between the applicationserver and wireless device. The application server may not have thecapability to know which part of delay (e.g. from wireless device toaccess network, access network to core network, or core network to theapplication server) may be a reason causing an end-to-end delay betweenapplication server and a wireless device, especially when theapplication server may be in the home PLMN and the wireless device maybe in the visited PLMN. Example embodiments provide enhanced mechanismsto monitor and report a service performance and/or QoS of a servicebetween a wireless device and an access network, an access network and acore network, and/or a core network to an application server, where theapplication server may be in the home PLMN and wireless device may be inthe visited PLMN in roaming scenario (e.g. home routed roaming case). Inan example embodiment, a network entity in a 5G core network in thevisited PLMN may notify an application server in the home PLMN to adjusta service behavior.

Example 1

In an example, an AF may send a first message to a network node (e.g.PCF, or NEF). The first message may indicate a request to subscribe toat least one service performance/QoS event for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. The PCFmay further subscribe the event to an SMF. FIG. 10 shows an example callflow which may comprise one or more actions.

An AF (application server) may send to a network function (e.g. PCF, orNEF) a message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event, orapplication/service information provision) to subscribe to at least oneservice performance/QoS event for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. As anexample, the AF may send to the PCF an HTTP POST message to subscribe toat least one service performance/QoS event. The message sent to the PCFfrom the AF may comprise one or more information elements. In anexample, the message sent to the PCF comprises a first informationelement indicating service performance/QoS event trigger(s). The AF mayrequest a network function (e.g. PCF) who receives the event trigger(s)to report the current value(s) of service performance/QoS if value(s) ofservice performance/QoS has(have) changed and/or the value(s)is(are)below threshold(s) (e.g. requested service performance/QoS). Asan example, the current value of service performance/QoS may be thevalue(s) of service performance/QoS if value(s) of serviceperformance/QoS has(have) changed and/or the value(s) is(are)belowthreshold(s) (e.g. requested service performance/QoS),In an example, themessage sent to the PCF comprises a second information elementindicating requested service performance/QoS value(s), and the secondinformation element may be used to indicate requested serviceperformance/QoS by the AF, which may comprise one or more parameters. Inan example, the second information element comprises an end-to-endlatency parameter. The end-to-end latency may be the time that takes totransfer a given piece of information from a source to a destination. Asan example, the end-to-end latency between the wireless device and theapplication server/controller of discrete automation—motion control maybe 1 ms. In an example, the second information element comprises ajitter parameter. The jitter may be a variation time in the delay ofreceived packets. As an example, the jitter of discreteautomation—motion control may be 1 μs. In an example, the secondinformation element comprises a survival time parameter. The survivaltime may be the time that an application consuming a communicationservice may continue without an anticipated message. As an example, thesurvival time of discrete automation—motion control may be 0 ms. In anexample, the second information element comprises a communicationservice availability parameter. The communication service availabilitymay be dependable or reliable of service interfaces. As an example, thecommunication service availability of discrete automation—motion controlmay be 99,9999%. In an example, the second information element comprisesa reliability parameter. The reliability may be dependable or reliableof a given network node. As an example, the reliability of discreteautomation—motion control may be 99,9999%.In an example, the secondinformation element comprises a user experienced data rate parameter.The user experienced data rate may be the minimum data rate required toachieve a sufficient quality experience. As an example, the userexperienced data rate of discrete automation—motion control may be 1Mbps up to 10 Mbps. In an example, the message sent to the PCF comprisesa third information element indicating service data flow template. Theservice data flow template may be used to detect the service data flow(s) for the service performance/QoS event. In an example, the messagesent to the PCF comprises a fourth information element indicatingservice/application identifier. The service/application identifier maybe used to detect the service/application for the serviceperformance/QoS event. In an example, the message sent to the PCFcomprises a fifth information element indicating PDU session identifier.The PDU session identifier may be the identifier of a PDU sessionapplied to the service performance/QoS event. In an example, the messagesent to the PCF comprises a sixth information element indicating useridentity of a wireless device. The user identity of a wireless devicemay be the identity of a wireless device applied to the serviceperformance/QoS event. If the AF sends to the NEF above message (e.g.subscribe service performance/QoS event, or application/serviceinformation provision), as an example, the NEF forwards the message tothe PCF.

In response to the message received from the AF or NEF, the PCF may takeone or more actions. In an example action, the PCF makes the policydecision based on the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the AF or NEF. In an exampleaction, the PCF sends to an SMF a message (e.g. subscribe serviceperformance/QoS event, or Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe) to subscribeevent trigger(s) and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)).The message may comprise the information received from the AF or NEF. Asan example, the message sent to the SMF may comprise the information(e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s)) received from the AFor NEF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy). As an example, the messagesent to the SMF may comprise the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy), where thepolicy(s) may comprise the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the AF or NEF.

In response to the message received from the PCF, the SMF may send to aUPF a message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event, or N4session establishment/modification request) to subscribe eventtrigger(s) and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)). Themessage may comprise one or more information elements received from thePCF. As an example, the message sent to the UPF may comprise theinformation (e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s)) receivedfrom the PCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy). As an example, themessage sent to the UPF may comprise the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy),where the policy(s) may comprise the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the PCF. In response to themessage received from the SMF, the UPF may send to the SMF a responsemessage (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event response, or N4session establishment/modification response).

In response to the message received from the UPF, the SMF may send tothe PCF a response message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS eventresponse, or Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe response). In response to themessage received from the SMF, the PCF may send to the AF a responsemessage (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event response, orapplication/service information provision response).

As an example, the PCF may send to the AF a HTTP 201 CREATED message inresponse to the HTTP POST message.

In response to the message received from the SMF, the UPF may take oneor more actions. In an example action, the UPF monitors the serviceperformance/QoS for the service data flow(s), the service/application,the PDU session, and/or the wireless device to measure/detect the atleast one service performance/QoS event. The UPF may take one or moreways to measure/detect the service performance/QoS. In an example way,the UPF monitors service performance/QoS between the UPF and thewireless device based on an internet control message protocol (ICMP)echo function. As an example, the UPF may send to the wireless deviceping packet(s) and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g.end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving the response from thewireless device. In an example way, the UPF monitors serviceperformance/QoS between the UPF and (R)AN based on the ICMP echofunction. As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN ping packet(s)and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. end-to-endlatency, jitter) after receiving the response(s) from the (R)AN. FIG. 15is an example call flow that UPF measures service performance/QoS byICMP echo function. In an example way, the UPF queries serviceperformance/QoS between the (R)AN and the wireless device. As anexample, the UPF may send to the (R)AN a signaling message to query theservice performance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wirelessdevice, the (R)AN may measure/detect the performance/QoS value(s)between the (R)AN and the wireless device, and send to the UPF aresponse message comprising the service performance/QoS value(s). As anexample, the UPF may send to the (R)AN a user plane data packet (e.g. inthe header of the data packet) comprising an indication to query theservice performance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wirelessdevice, and/or the service performance/QoS value(s) between the wirelessdevice and the application server. The (R)AN may measure/detect theperformance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wireless device,and/or the (R)AN may request the wireless device to measure the serviceperformance/QoS value(s) between the wireless device and the applicationserver. The (R)AN may send to the UPF a user plane data packet (e.g. inthe header of the data packet) comprising the measured serviceperformance/QoS value(s). In an example way, the UPF monitors serviceperformance/QoS between the UPF and the application server based on aninternet control message protocol (ICMP) echo function. As an example,the UPF may send to the application server ping packet(s) and calculatethe service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. end-to-end latency, jitter)after receiving the response from the wireless device. In an exampleaction, the UPF sends to the SMF a message (e.g. service performance/QoSmeasurement report) if the UPF detects at least one serviceperformance/QoS event is triggered (e.g. value(s) of serviceperformance/QoS has(have) changed and/or the value(s) is(are) belowthreshold(s) (e.g. requested service performance/QoS)) for at least oneof: the service data flow; the service/application; the PDU session; andthe wireless device. The message sent to the SMF from the UPF maycomprise one or more information elements. In an example, the messagecomprises a first information element indicating service performance/QoSevent trigger(s). In an example, the message sent to the SMF from theUPF comprises a second information element indicating measured serviceperformance/QoS value (s), and the measured service performance/QoSvalue (s) may be used to indicate measured service performance/QoS by anetwork function (e.g. UPF), which may comprise one or more parameters.In an example, the second information element may comprise a parameterindicating service performance/QoS value type, and this parameter may beused to indicate the type or scope of the service performance/QoS. As anexample, this parameter may comprise one or more types. An example typemay be service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) betweenUPF and wireless device. An example type may be service performance/QoSvalue (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF and (R)AN. An example typemay be service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between(R)AN and wireless device. An example type may be serviceperformance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF andapplication server. An example type may be service performance/QoS value(e.g. end-to-end latency) between UE and application server. In anexample, the second information element may comprise a parameterindicating measured end-to-end latency. In an example, the secondinformation element may comprise a parameter indicating measured jitter.In an example, the second information element may comprise a parameterindicating measured survival time. In an example, the second informationelement may comprise a parameter indicating measured communicationservice availability. In an example, the second information element maycomprise a parameter indicating measured reliability. In an example, thesecond information element may comprise a parameter indicating measureduser experienced data rate. In an example, the message sent to the SMFfrom the UPF comprises a third information element indicating servicedata flow template. In an example, the message sent to the SMF from theUPF comprises a fourth information element indicatingservice/application identifier. In an example, the message sent to theSMF from the UPF comprises a fifth information element indicating PDUsession identifier. In an example, the message sent to the SMF from theUPF comprises an sixth information element indicating user identity of awireless device.

In response to the message received from the UPF, the SMF may send tothe PCF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report)comprising the information received from the UPF. In response to themessage received from the SMF, the PCF may send to the AF or NEF amessage (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising theinformation received from the SMF. In case the NEF receives the message(e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) from the PCF, the NEFmay forward the message to the AF.

In response to the message received from the PCF or NEF, the AF mayadjust the service behavior accordingly in a timely manner based on theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS value (s) event trigger,and/or measured service performance/QoS value (s)) received from the PCFor NEF. As an example, the AF may change the codec rate of the videobased on the measured service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. thecurrent service performance of the communication system may not be ableto support the 8k Ultra High Definition (UHD) video, the codec rate ofthe video may be changed to 4K UHD). The AF may send to the PCF amessage (e.g. application/service information provision) for thechanging of application information. As an example, the AF may analysiswhich part of delay (e.g. from wireless device to access network, accessnetwork to core network, or core network to the application server) maybe the reason causing a long end-to-end delay between application serverand the wireless device. For example, the AF may determine that theend-to-end delay may be caused by the delay between the core network andthe application server, the AF may send to the PCF a message (e.g. HTTPPUT) indicating the changing of the route policy between the corenetwork (e.g. UPF) and the application server. The PCF may send to theSMF a policy to select a better route which has short delay between UPFand the application server compare to the current end-to-end delay, theSMF may send to the policy to the UPF for enforcement.

Example 2

In an example, an AF may send a first message to a network node (e.g.PCF, or NEF). The first message may indicate a request for at least oneservice performance/QoS report for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. The PCFmay further request the report from an SMF. FIG. 11 shows an examplecall flow which may comprise one or more of the following actions:

An AF may send to a network function (e.g. PCF, or NEF) a message (e.g.service performance/QoS report request, or application/serviceinformation provision) to indicate the PCF or NEF reporting at least onecurrent service performance/QoS for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. Themessage sent to the network function (e.g. PCF, or NEF) may comprise oneor more information elements. In an example, the message comprises aninformation element of service performance/QoS report indication(s). Theindication may be used to by the AF to query current value(s) of one ormore of the following parameters for service performance/QoS: anend-to-end latency; a jitter; a survival time; a communication serviceavailability; a reliability; and a user experienced data rate. As anexample, a network function (e.g. UPF) may measure the current value(s)of service performance/QoS parameters when receiving the serviceperformance/QoS report indication(s). In an example, the messagecomprises an information element indicating service data flow template.In an example, the message comprises an information element indicatingservice/application identifier. In an example, the message comprises aninformation element indicating PDU session identifier. In an example,the message comprises an information element indicating user identity ofa wireless device. If the AF sends to the NEF above message (e.g.service performance/QoS report request, or application/serviceinformation provision), as an example, the NEF may forward the messageto the PCF.

In response to the message received from the AF or NEF, the PCF may takeone or more actions. In an example action, the PCF makes the policydecision based on the information received from the AF or NEF. In anexample action, the PCF sends to an SMF a message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS report request) to request at least one current serviceperformance/QoS report. The message may comprise the informationreceived from the AF or NEF. As an example, the message sent to the SMFmay comprise the information (e.g. service performance/QoS reportindication(s)) received from the AF or NEF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoSpolicy). As an example, the message sent to the SMF may comprise thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) receivedfrom the AF or NEF. In response to the message received from the PCF,the SMF may send to a UPF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS reportrequest, or N4 session establishment/modification request) to requestthe current service performance/QoS report and/or provision thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)). The message may comprise the informationreceived from the PCF. As an example, the message sent to the UPF maycomprise the information (e.g. service performance/QoS reportindication(s)) received from the PCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy).As an example, the message sent to the UPF may comprise the policy(s)(e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise the information(e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) received from thePCF.

In response to the message received from the SMF, the UPF may take oneor more actions. In an example action, the UPF monitors the serviceperformance/QoS of the service data flow(s), the service/application,the PDU session, and/or the wireless device to measure/detect the atleast one service performance/QoS event. The UPF may take one or moreways to measure/detect the service performance/QoS. In an example way,the UPF monitors service performance/QoS between the UPF and thewireless device based on an internet control message protocol (ICMP)echo function. As an example, the UPF may send to the wireless deviceping packet(s) and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g.end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving the response from thewireless device. In an example way, the UPF monitors serviceperformance/QoS between the UPF and a (R)AN based on the ICMP echofunction. As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN ping packet(s),and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. end-to-endlatency, jitter) after receiving the response(s) from the (R)AN. In anexample way, the UPF queries service performance/QoS between the (R)ANand the wireless device. As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN asignaling message to query the service performance/QoS value(s) betweenthe (R)AN and the wireless device, the (R)AN may measure/detect theperformance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wireless device, andsend to the UPF a response message comprising the serviceperformance/QoS value(s). As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN auser plane data packet (e.g. in the header of the data packet)comprising an indication to query the service performance/QoS value(s)between the (R)AN and the wireless device, the (R)AN may measure/detectthe performance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wireless device,and send to the UPF a user plane data packet (e.g. in the header of thedata packet) comprising the service performance/QoS value(s). In anexample action, the UPF may send to the SMF a report message (e.g.service performance/QoS measurement report, or N4 sessionestablishment/modification response), and the report message maycomprise one or more information elements. In an example, the reportmessage comprises a first information element indicating measuredservice performance/QoS value (s). The first information element may beused to indicate measured service performance/QoS, which may compriseone or more parameters. In an example, the first information elementcomprises a parameter indicating service performance/QoS value type, andthis parameter may be used to indicate the type or scope of the serviceperformance/QoS. As an example, this parameter may comprise one or moreof the following types: service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-endlatency) between UPF and wireless device; service performance/QoS value(e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF and (R)AN; service performance/QoSvalue (e.g. end-to-end latency) between (R)AN and wireless device;service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF andapplication server; and service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-endlatency) between UE and application server. In an example, the firstinformation element comprises a parameter indicating measured end-to-endlatency. In an example, the first information element comprises aparameter indicating measured jitter. In an example, the firstinformation element comprises a parameter indicating measured survivaltime. In an example, the first information element comprises a parameterindicating measured communication service availability. In an example,the first information element comprises a parameter indicating measuredreliability. In an example, the first information element comprises aparameter indicating measured user experienced data rate. In an example,the report message comprises a second information element indicatingservice data flow template. In an example, the report message comprisesa third information element indicating service/application identifier.In an example, the report message comprises a fourth information elementindicating PDU session identifier. In an example, the report messagecomprises a fifth information element indicating user identity of awireless device.

In response to the message received from the UPF, the SMF may send tothe PCF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report)comprising the information received from the UPF. In response to themessage received from the SMF, the PCF may send to the AF or NEF amessage (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising theinformation received from the SMF. In case the NEF receives the message(e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) from the PCF, the NEFmay forward the message to the AF. In response to the message receivedfrom the PCF or NEF, the AF may adjust the service behavior accordinglyin a timely manner based on the information (e.g. measured serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the PCF or NEF. As an example,the AF may change the codec rate of the video based on the measuredservice performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. the current service performanceof the communication system may not be able to support the 8k Ultra HighDefinition (UHD) video, the codec rate of the video may be changed to 4KUHD). The AF may send to the PCF a message (e.g. application/serviceinformation provision) for the changing of application information.

Example 3

In an example, a (R)AN may perform service performance/QoS measurementrather than a UPF performing the measurement compare to Example 2. FIG.12 shows an example call flow which may comprise one or more actions.

An AF may send to a network function (e.g. PCF, or NEF) a message (e.g.service performance/QoS report request, or application/serviceinformation provision) to indicate the PCF or NEF reporting at least onecurrent service performance/QoS for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. Themessage may comprise one or more information elements. In an example,the message comprises an information element of service performance/QoSreport indication(s). The AF may use the indication(s) to query currentvalue(s) of one or more of the following parameters for serviceperformance/QoS: end-to-end latency; jitter; survival time;communication service availability; reliability; and user experienceddata rate. In an example, the message comprises an information elementindicating service data flow template. In an example, the messagecomprises an information element indicating service/applicationidentifier. In an example, the message comprises an information elementindicating PDU session identifier. In an example, the message comprisesan information element indicating user identity of a wireless device. Ifthe AF sends to the NEF above message (e.g. service performance/QoSreport request, or application/service information provision), as anexample, the NEF may forward the message to the PCF.

In response to the message received from the AF or NEF, the PCF may takeone or more actions. In an example action, the PCF makes the policydecision based on the information received from the AF or NEF. In anexample action, the PCF sends to an SMF a message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS report request) to indicate at least one current serviceperformance/QoS report. The message may comprise the informationreceived from the AF or NEF. As an example, the message sent to the SMFmay comprise the information (e.g. service performance/QoS reportindication(s)) received from the AF or NEF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoSpolicy). As an example, the message sent to the SMF may comprise thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) receivedfrom the AF or NEF.

In response to the message received from the PCF, the SMF may send to anAMF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS report request) to requestthe current service performance/QoS report and/or provision thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)). The message may comprise the informationreceived from the PCF. As an example, the message sent to the AMF maycomprise the information (e.g. service performance/QoS reportindication(s)) received from the PCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy).As an example, the message sent to the AMF may comprise the policy(s)(e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise the information(e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) received from thePCF. In response to the message received from the SMF, the AMF may sendto a (R)AN a message (e.g. service performance/QoS report request) torequest the current service performance/QoS report and/or provision thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)). The message may comprise the informationreceived from the SMF. As an example, the message sent to the (R)AN maycomprise the information (e.g. service performance/QoS reportindication(s)) received from the SMF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy).As an example, the message sent to the (R)AN may comprise the policy(s)(e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise the information(e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) received from theSMF.

In response to the message received from the AMF, the (R)AN may take oneor more of actions. In an example action, the (R)AN monitors the serviceperformance/QoS of the service data flow(s), the service/application,the PDU session, and/or the wireless device to measure/detect the atleast one service performance/QoS event. The (R)AN may take one or moreways to measure/detect the service performance/QoS. In an example way,the (R)AN monitors service performance/QoS between the (R)AN and UPFbased on the ICMP echo function; and As an example, the (R)AN may sendto the UPF ping packet(s) and calculate the service performance/QoSvalue (s) (e.g. end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving theresponse(s) from the UPF. In an example way, the (R)AN queries serviceperformance/QoS between the (R)AN and the wireless device. As anexample, the (R)AN may send to the wireless device a data packet (e.g.PDCP packet) and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g.end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving the response(s) from thewireless device. In an example action, the (R)AN may send to the AMF amessage (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report), and thereport message may comprise one or more information elements. In anexample the report message comprises a first information elementindicating measured service performance/QoS value (s), and the firstinformation element may be used to indicate measured serviceperformance/QoS, which may comprise one or more parameters. In anexample, the first information element comprises a parameter indicatingservice performance/QoS value type, and this parameter may be used toindicate the type or scope of the service performance/QoS. As anexample, this parameter may comprise one or more of the following types:service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF andwireless device; service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency)between UPF and (R)AN; service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-endlatency) between (R)AN and wireless device; service performance/QoSvalue (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF and application server; andservice performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UE andapplication server. In an example, the first information elementcomprises a parameter indicating measured end-to-end latency. In anexample, the first information element comprises a parameter indicatingmeasured jitter. In an example, the first information element comprisesa parameter indicating measured survival time. In an example, the firstinformation element comprises a parameter indicating measuredcommunication service availability. In an example, the first informationelement comprises a parameter indicating measured reliability. In anexample, the first information element comprises a parameter indicatingmeasured user experienced data rate. In an example the report messagecomprises a second information element indicating service data flowtemplate. In an example the report message comprises a third informationelement indicating service/application identifier. In an example thereport message comprises a fourth information element indicating PDUsession identifier. In an example the report message comprises a fifthinformation element indicating user identity of a wireless device.

In response to the message received from the (R)AN, the AMF may send tothe SMF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report)comprising the information received from the (R)AN. In response to themessage received from the AMF, the SMF may send to the PCF a message(e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising theinformation received from the AMF. In response to the message receivedfrom the SMF, the PCF may send to the AF or NEF a message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS measurement report) comprising the information receivedfrom the SMF. In case the NEF receives the message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS measurement report) from the PCF, the NEF may forwardthe message to the AF. In response to the message received from the PCFor NEF, the AF may adjust the service behavior accordingly in a timelymanner based on the information (e.g. measured service performance/QoSvalue (s)) received from the PCF or NEF. As an example, the AF maychange the codec rate of the video based on the measured serviceperformance/QoS value (s) (e.g. the current service performance of thecommunication system may not be able to support the 8k Ultra HighDefinition (UHD) video, the codec rate of the video may be changed to 4KUHD). The AF may send to the PCF a message (e.g. application/serviceinformation provision) for the changing of application information.

Example 4

In an example, a (R)AN may receive service performance/QoS eventsubscription from an AMF, the (R)AN may report to the AMF when the eventis triggered. FIG. 13 shows an example call flow which may comprise oneor more actions.

An AF may send to a network function (e.g. PCF, or NEF) a message (e.g.subscribe service performance/QoS event, or application/serviceinformation provision) to subscribe to at least one serviceperformance/QoS event for a service data flow, a service/application, aPDU session, and/or a wireless device. The message may comprise one ormore information elements. In an example, the message comprises aninformation element indicating service performance/QoS event trigger(s).The event trigger may be used to indicate the current value(s) ofservice performance/QoS may be requested reported if value(s) of serviceperformance/QoS has(have) changed and/or the value(s) is(are)belowthreshold(s) (e.g. requested service performance/QoS). In an example,the message comprises an information element indicating requestedservice performance/QoS value (s), and this information element (IE) maybe used to indicate requested service performance/QoS by the AF, whichmay comprise one or more of the following parameters: end-to-endlatency; jitter; survival time; communication service availability;reliability; user experienced data rate. In an example, the messagecomprises an information element indicating service data flow template.In an example, the message comprises an information element indicatingservice/application identifier. In an example, the message comprises aninformation element indicating PDU session identifier. In an example,the message comprises an information element indicating user identity ofa wireless device. If the AF sends to the NEF above message (e.g.subscribe service performance/QoS event, or application/serviceinformation provision), as an example, the NEF may forward the messageto the PCF.

In response to the message received from the AF or NEF, the PCF may takeone or more actions. In an example action, the PCF makes the policydecision based on the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the AF or NEF. In an exampleaction, the PCF sends to an SMF a message (e.g. subscribe serviceperformance/QoS event, or Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe) to subscribeevent trigger(s) and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)).The message may comprise the information received from the AF or NEF. Asan example, the message sent to the SMF may comprise the information(e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s)) received from the AFor NEF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy). As an example, the messagesent to the SMF may comprise the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy), where thepolicy(s) may comprise the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the AF or NEF.

In response to the message received from the PCF, the SMF may send to anAMF a message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event) tosubscribe event trigger(s) and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoSpolicy(s)). The message may comprise the information received from thePCF. As an example, the message sent to the AMF may comprise theinformation (e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s)) receivedfrom the PCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy). As an example, themessage sent to the AMF may comprise the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy),where the policy(s) may comprise the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the PCF. In response to themessage received from the SMF, the AMF may send to a (R)AN a message(e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event) to subscribe eventtrigger(s) and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)). Themessage may comprise the information received from the SMF. As anexample, the message sent to the (R)AN may comprise the information(e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s)) received from the SMFand/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy).

As an example, the message sent to the (R)AN may comprise the policy(s)(e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise the information(e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s)) received from theSMF. In response to the message received from the AMF, the (R)AN maysend to the AMF a response message (e.g. subscribe serviceperformance/QoS event response). In response to the message receivedfrom the (R)AN, the AMF may send to the SMF a response message (e.g.subscribe service performance/QoS event response). In response to themessage received from the AMF, the SMF may send to the PCF a responsemessage (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event response, orNsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe response). In response to the messagereceived from the SMF, the PCF may send to the AF a response message(e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event response, orapplication/service information provision response).

In response to the message received from the AMF, the (R)AN may take oneor more actions. In an example action, the (R)AN monitors the serviceperformance/QoS of the service data flow(s), the service/application,the PDU session, and/or the wireless device to measure/detect the atleast one service performance/QoS event. The (R)AN may take one or moreways to measure/detect the service performance/QoS. In an example way,the (R)AN monitors service performance/QoS between the (R)AN and UPFbased on the ICMP echo function. As an example, the (R)AN may send toUPF the ping packet(s) and calculate the service performance/QoS value(s) (e.g. end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving the response(s)from the UPF. In an example way, the (R)AN queries serviceperformance/QoS between the (R)AN and the wireless device. As anexample, the UPF may send to the (R)AN a signaling message to query theservice performance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wirelessdevice, the (R)AN may measure/detect the performance/QoS value(s)between the (R)AN and the wireless device, and send to the UPF aresponse message comprising the service performance/QoS value(s). As anexample, the (R)AN may send to the wireless device a data packet (e.g.PDCP packet) and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g.end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving the response(s) from thewireless device. In an example action, the (R)AN may send to the AMF amessage (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) if the (R)ANdetects at least one service performance/QoS event is triggered (e.g.value(s) of service performance/QoS has(have) changed and/or thevalue(s) is(are) below threshold(s) (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS)) for at least one of: the service data flow; theservice/application; the PDU session; and the wireless device. Themeasurement report message may comprise one or more informationelements. In an example, the measurement report message comprises aninformation element indicating service performance/QoS event trigger(s).In an example, the measurement report message comprises a firstinformation element indicating measured service performance/QoS value(s), and the first information element (IE) may be used to indicatemeasured service performance/QoS, which may comprise one or moreparameters. In an example, the first information element comprises aparameter indicating service performance/QoS value type, and thisparameter may be used to indicate the type or scope of the serviceperformance/QoS. As an example, this parameter may comprise one or moreof the following types: service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-endlatency) between UPF and (R)AN; service performance/QoS value (e.g.end-to-end latency) between (R)AN and wireless device; serviceperformance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UE andapplication server. In an example, the first information elementcomprises a parameter indicating measured end-to-end latency. In anexample, the first information element comprises a parameter indicatingmeasured jitter. In an example, the first information element comprisesa parameter indicating measured survival time. In an example, the firstinformation element comprises a parameter indicating measuredcommunication service availability. In an example, the first informationelement comprises a parameter indicating measured reliability. In anexample, the first information element comprises a parameter indicatingmeasured user experienced data rate. In an example, the measurementreport message comprises a second information element indicating servicedata flow template. In an example, the measurement report messagecomprises a third information element indicating service/applicationidentifier. In an example, the measurement report message comprises afourth information element indicating PDU session identifier. In anexample, the measurement report message comprises a fifth informationelement indicating user identity of a wireless device.

In response to the message received from the (R)AN, the AMF may send tothe SMF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report)comprising the information received from the (R)AN. In response to themessage received from the AMF, the SMF may send to the PCF a message(e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising theinformation received from the AMF. In response to the message receivedfrom the SMF, the PCF may send to the AF or NEF a message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS measurement report) comprising the information receivedfrom the SMF. In case the NEF receives the message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS measurement report) from the PCF, the NEF may forwardthe message to the AF.

In response to the message received from the PCF or NEF, the AF mayadjust the service behavior accordingly in a timely manner based on theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS value (s) event trigger,and/or measured service performance/QoS value (s)) received from the PCFor NEF. As an example, the AF may change the codec rate of the videobased on the measured service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. thecurrent service performance of the communication system may not be ableto support the 8k Ultra High Definition (UHD) video, the codec rate ofthe video may be changed to 4K UHD). The AF may send to the PCF amessage (e.g. application/service information provision) for thechanging of application information.

As an example, an SMF may receive from a PCF a first message indicatinga request to subscribe to at least one service performance/QoS event fora service data flow, a service/application, a PDU session, and/or awireless device, wherein the first message may comprise at least one of:at least one first information element (IE) indicating the at least oneservice performance/QoS event; at least one second IE indicating serviceperformance/QoS values comprising at least one of: a first end-to-endlatency; a first jitter; a first survival time; a first communicationservice availability; a first reliability value; or a first userexperienced data rate; at least one third IE indicating a template of aservice data flow; at least one fourth IE indicating a first identifierof service/application; at least one fifth IE indicating a secondidentifier of a PDU session; or at least one six IE indicating a useridentity of a wireless device; sending, by the SMF to a UPF and inresponse to the first message, a second message indicating the requestto subscribe to the at least one service performance/QoS event;

As an example, the may receive from the UPF a response message to thesecond message, wherein the response message may indicate that the atleast one service performance/QoS event is triggered for one of: theservice data flow; the service/application; the PDU session; and thewireless device; wherein the response message may comprise at least oneservice performance/QoS value comprising at least one of the following:a second end-to-end latency; a second jitter; a second survival time; asecond communication service availability; a second reliability; or asecond user experienced data rate.

As an example, the SMF may send to the PCF, a third message comprisingthe at least one service performance/QoS value.

In an example, the UPF may monitor service performance/QoS of theservice data flow, the service/application, the PDU session, and/or thewireless device to detect the at least one service performance/QoSevent.

In an example, the monitoring of the service performance/QoS maycomprises at least one of: monitoring first service performance/QoSbetween the UPF and the wireless device based on an internet controlmessage protocol (ICMP) echo function; monitoring second serviceperformance/QoS between the UPF and a (R)AN based on the ICMP echofunction; or the UPF may send to the (R)AN a request message indicatinga request to monitor third service performance/QoS between the (R)AN andthe wireless device.

In an example, an AF may send to a PCF a first message indicating arequest to subscribe to at least one service performance/QoS event for aservice data flow, a service/application, a PDU session, and/or awireless device, wherein the first message comprises at least one of: atleast one first information element (IE) indicating the at least oneservice performance/QoS event; at least one second IE indicating serviceperformance/QoS values comprising at least one of: a first end-to-endlatency; a first jitter; a first survival time; a first communicationservice availability; a first reliability value; or a first userexperienced data rate; at least one third IE indicating a template of aservice data flow; at least one fourth IE indicating a first identifierof service/application; at least one fifth IE indicating a secondidentifier of a PDU session; or at least one six IE indicating a useridentity of a wireless device.

In an example, the AF may receive from the PCF the response message tothe first message.

In an example, AF may receive from the PCF a measurement report messageindicating that the at least one service performance/QoS event istriggered for at least one of: the service data flow; theservice/application; the PDU session; and the wireless device; whereinthe measurement report message may comprise at least one serviceperformance/QoS value comprising at least one of the following: a secondend-to-end latency; a second jitter; a second survival time; a secondcommunication service availability; a second reliability; or a seconduser experienced data rate.

In an example, the AF may adjust the service behavior accordingly in atimely manner and/or determine the application parameter(s) based on theat least one service performance/QoS value. And the AF may send to thePCF a message for the changing of the application parameter(s).

In an example, the SMF may receive from a PCF a first message indicatinga request for at least one service performance/QoS report for a servicedata flow, a service/application, a PDU session, and/or a wirelessdevice, wherein the first message comprises at least one of: at leastone first information element (IE) indicating the at least one serviceperformance/QoS report; at least one second IE indicating serviceperformance/QoS types to report, the service performance/QoS typescomprising at least one of: a first end-to-end latency; a first jitter;a first survival time; a first communication service availability; afirst reliability value; or a first user experienced data rate; at leastone third IE indicating a template of a service data flow; at least onefourth IE indicating a first identifier of service/application; at leastone fifth IE indicating a second identifier of a PDU session; or atleast one six IE indicating a user identity of a wireless device;

In an example, in response to the first message, the SMF may send to aUPF a second message indicating the request for the at least one serviceperformance/QoS report.

In an example, the SMF may receive from the UPF a response message tothe second message, wherein the response message comprises at least oneservice performance/QoS measurement value for the service data flow, theservice/application, the PDU session, and/or the wireless device, the atleast one service performance/QoS measurement value indicating at leastone of: a second end-to-end latency; a second jitter; a second survivaltime; a second communication service availability; a second reliability;or a second user experienced data rate.

In an example, the SMF may send to the PCF a third message comprisingthe at least one service performance/QoS measurement values.

In an example, an AF may send to a PCF a first message indicating arequest for at least one service performance/QoS report for a servicedata flow, a service/application, a PDU session, and/or a wirelessdevice, wherein the first message comprises at least one of: at leastone first information element (IE) indicating the at least one serviceperformance/QoS report; at least one second IE indicating serviceperformance/QoS types comprising at least one of: a first end-to-endlatency; a first jitter; a first survival time; a first communicationservice availability; a first reliability value; or a first userexperienced data rate; at least one third IE indicating a template of aservice data flow; at least one fourth IE indicating a first identifierof service/application; at least one fifth IE indicating a secondidentifier of a PDU session; or at least one six IE indicating a useridentity of a wireless device.

In an example, in response to the first message, the AF may receive fromthe PCF a response message comprising at least one serviceperformance/QoS measurement value for the service data flow, theservice/application, the PDU session, and/or the wireless device, the atleast one service performance/QoS measurement value comprising at leastone of: a second end-to-end latency; a second jitter; a second survivaltime; a second communication service availability; a second reliability;or a second user experienced data rate; and determining by the AF, toadjust the application parameter(s) based on the at least one serviceperformance/QoS measurement value.

In an example, an SMF may receive from a PCF a first message indicatinga request for at least one service performance/QoS report for a servicedata flow, a service/application, a PDU session, and/or a wirelessdevice, wherein the first message comprises at least one of: at leastone first information element (IE) indicating the at least one serviceperformance/QoS report; at least one second IE indicating serviceperformance/QoS types to report, the service performance/QoS typescomprising at least one of: a first end-to-end latency; a first jitter;a first survival time; a first communication service availability; afirst reliability value; or a first user experienced data rate; at leastone third IE indicating a template of a service data flow; at least onefourth IE indicating a first identifier of service/application; at leastone fifth IE indicating a second identifier of a PDU session; or atleast one six IE indicating a user identity of a wireless device.

In an example, in response to the first message, the SMF may send to anAMF a second message indicating the request for the at least one serviceperformance/QoS report.

In an example, the AMF may send to (R)AN in response to the secondmessage, a third message indicating the request for the at least oneservice performance/QoS report.

In an example, the AMF may receive from the (R)AN a first responsemessage to the third message, wherein the first response messagecomprises at least one service performance/QoS measurement value for theservice data flow, the service/application, the PDU session, and/or thewireless device, the at least one service performance/QoS measurementvalue indicating at least one of: a second end-to-end latency; a secondjitter; a second survival time; a second communication serviceavailability; a second reliability; or a second user experienced datarate.

In an example, the SMF may receive from the AMF a second responsemessage to the second message, wherein the second response messagecomprises the at least one service performance/QoS measurement value.

In an example, the SMF may send to the PCF a fourth message comprisingthe at least one service performance/QoS measurement value.

In an example, the (R)AN may measure service performance/QoS of theservice data flow, the service/application, the PDU session, and/or thewireless device based on at least one of: an internet control messageprotocol (ICMP) echo function between the (R)AN and a UPF; or the ICMPecho function and/or a PDCP function between (R)AN the wireless device.

Example 5

In an example, a wireless device may be in a visited network and anapplication server (e.g. Home AF (HAF)) may be in a home network. Forhome routed roaming scenario, the wireless device may send user datafrom the visited network to the application server in the home network.The HAF may send a first message to a network node (e.g. HPCF, or HNEF).The first message may indicate a request to subscribe to at least oneservice performance/QoS event for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. The HPCFmay further subscribe the event to a VPCF where the VPCF may be in avisited network. FIG. 17 shows an example call flow which may compriseone or more actions.

An HAF (application server) may send to a network function (e.g. homePCF, or home NEF) a message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoSevent, or application/service information provision) to subscribe to atleast one service performance/QoS event for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. As anexample, the HAF may send to the HPCF an HTTP POST message to subscribeto at least one service performance/QoS event. The message may compriseone or more information elements. In an example, the message comprises afirst information element indicating service performance/QoS eventtrigger(s). The HAF may request a network function (e.g. HPCF) whoreceives the event trigger(s) to report the current value(s) of serviceperformance/QoS if value(s) of service performance/QoS has(have) changedand/or the value(s) is(are) below threshold(s) (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS values(s)). As an example, the current value of serviceperformance/QoS may be the value(s) of service performance/QoS ifvalue(s) of service performance/QoS has(have) changed and/or thevalue(s) is(are) below threshold(s) (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS) values(s)). In an example, the message comprises asecond information element indicating requested service performance/QoSvalue(s), and this information element (IE) may be used to indicaterequested service performance/QoS by the HAF, which may comprise one ormore of the following parameters. In an example, the second informationelement comprises a parameter indicating end-to-end latency. Theend-to-end latency may be the time that takes to transfer a given pieceof information from a source to a destination. As an example, theend-to-end latency between the wireless device and the applicationserver/controller of discrete automation—motion control may be 1 ms. Inan example, the second information element comprises a parameterindicating jitter. The jitter may be a variation time in the delay ofreceived packets. As an example, the jitter of discreteautomation—motion control may be 1 μs. In an example, the secondinformation element comprises a parameter indicating survival time. Thesurvival time may be the time that an application consuming acommunication service may continue without an anticipated message. As anexample, the survival time of discrete automation—motion control may beOms. In an example, the second information element comprises a parameterindicating communication service availability. The communication serviceavailability may be dependable or reliable of service interfaces. As anexample, the communication service availability of discreteautomation—motion control may be 99,9999%. In an example, the secondinformation element comprises a parameter indicating reliability. Thereliability may be dependable or reliable of a given network node. As anexample, the reliability of discrete automation—motion control may be99,9999%. In an example, the second information element comprises aparameter indicating user experienced data rate. The user experienceddata rate may be the minimum data rate required to achieve a sufficientquality experience. As an example, the user experienced data rate ofdiscrete automation—motion control may be 1 Mbps up to 10 Mbps. In anexample, the message comprises a third information element indicatingservice data flow template. The service data flow template may be usedto detect the service data flow (s) for the service performance/QoSevent. In an example, the message comprises a fourth information elementindicating service/application identifier. The service/applicationidentifier may be used to detect the service/application for the serviceperformance/QoS event. In an example, the message comprises a fifthinformation element indicating PDU session identifier. The PDU sessionidentifier may be the identifier of a PDU session applied to the serviceperformance/QoS event. In an example, the message comprises a sixthinformation element indicating user identity of a wireless device. Theuser identity of a wireless device may be the identity of a wirelessdevice applied to the service performance/QoS event. If the HAF sends tothe HNEF above message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event, orapplication/service information provision), as an example, the HNEF mayforward the message to the HPCF.

In response to the message received from the HAF or HNEF, the HPCF maytake one or more actions. In an example action, the HPCF makes thepolicy decision based on the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the HAF or HNEF. In an exampleaction, the HPCF sends to visited PCF (VPCF) a message (e.g. subscribeservice performance/QoS event, or Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe) tosubscribe event trigger(s) and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoSpolicy(s)). The message may comprise the information received from theHAF or HNEF. As an example, the message sent to the VPCF may comprisethe information (e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s))received from the HAF or HNEF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy) made bythe HPCF. As an example, the message sent to the VPCF may comprise thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy) made by the HPCF, where the policy(s) maycomprise the information (e.g. requested service performance/QoS value(s)) received from the HAF or HNEF.

In response to the message received from the HPCF, the VPCF may take oneor more actions. In an example, the VPCF makes the policy decision basedon the information (e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s))received from the HPCF; As an example, the created policy(s) from theVPCF may be the same as the policy(s) received from the HPCF; as anexample, the created policy(s) from the VPCF may be different with thepolicy(s) received from the HPCF. In an example, the VPCF sends to anSMF a message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event, orNsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe) to subscribe event trigger(s) and/orprovision the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)). The SMF may be in thevisited network. The message may comprise the information received fromthe HPCF. As an example, the message sent to the SMF may comprise theinformation (e.g. requested service performance/QoS value (s)) receivedfrom the HPCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy). As an example, themessage sent to the SMF may comprise the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy),where the policy(s) may comprise the information (e.g. requested serviceperformance/QoS value (s)) received from the HPCF.

In response to the message received from the VPCF, the SMF may send to aUPF a message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event, or N4session establishment/modification request) to subscribe eventtrigger(s) and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy(s)). The UPFmay be in the visited network. The message may comprise the informationreceived from the VPCF. As an example, the message sent to the UPF maycomprise the information (e.g. requested service performance/QoS value(s)) received from the VPCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy). As anexample, the message sent to the UPF may comprise the policy(s) (e.g.QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise the information (e.g.requested service performance/QoS value (s)) received from the VPCF. Inresponse to the message received from the SMF, the UPF may send to theSMF a response message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS eventresponse, or N4 session establishment/modification response). Inresponse to the message received from the UPF, the SMF may send to theVPCF a response message (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS eventresponse, or Nsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe response). In response to themessage received from the SMF, the VPCF may send to the HPCF a responsemessage (e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event response, orNsmf_EventExposure_Subscribe response). In response to the messagereceived from the VPCF, the HPCF may send to the HAF a response message(e.g. subscribe service performance/QoS event response, orapplication/service information provision response). As an example, theHPCF may send to the HAF a HTTP 201 CREATED message in response to theHTTP POST message.

In response to the message received from the SMF, the UPF may take oneor more actions. In an example action, the UPF monitors the serviceperformance/QoS for the service data flow(s), the service/application,the PDU session, and/or the wireless device to measure/detect the atleast one service performance/QoS event. The UPF may take one or moreways to measure/detect the service performance/QoS. In an example way,the UPF monitors service performance/QoS between the UPF and thewireless device based on an internet control message protocol (ICMP)echo function. As an example, the UPF may send to the wireless deviceping packet(s) and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g.end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving the response from thewireless device. In an example way, the UPF monitors serviceperformance/QoS between the UPF and (R)AN based on the ICMP echofunction. As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN ping packet(s)and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. end-to-endlatency, jitter) after receiving the response(s) from the (R)AN. FIG. 15is an example call flow that UPF measures service performance/QoS byICMP echo function. In an example way, the UPF queries serviceperformance/QoS between the (R)AN and the wireless device. As anexample, the UPF may send to the (R)AN a signaling message to query theservice performance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wirelessdevice, the (R)AN may measure/detect the performance/QoS value(s)between the (R)AN and the wireless device, and send to the UPF aresponse message comprising the service performance/QoS value(s). As anexample, the UPF may send to the (R)AN a user plane data packet (e.g. inthe header of the data packet) comprising an indication to query theservice performance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wirelessdevice, and/or the service performance/QoS value(s) between the wirelessdevice and the application server. The (R)AN may measure/detect theperformance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wireless device,and/or the (R)AN may request the wireless device to measure the serviceperformance/QoS value(s) between the wireless device and the applicationserver. The (R)AN may send to the UPF a user plane data packet (e.g. inthe header of the data packet) comprising the measured serviceperformance/QoS value(s). In an example way, the UPF monitors serviceperformance/QoS between the UPF and the application server based on aninternet control message protocol (ICMP) echo function. As an example,the UPF may send to the application server ping packet(s) and calculatethe service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. end-to-end latency, jitter)after receiving the response from the wireless device. In an exampleaction, the UPF sends to the SMF a message (e.g. service performance/QoSmeasurement report) if the UPF detects at least one serviceperformance/QoS event is triggered (e.g. value(s) of serviceperformance/QoS has(have) changed and/or the value(s) is(are) belowthreshold(s) (e.g. requested service performance/QoS)) for at least oneof: the service data flow; the service/application; the PDU session; andthe wireless device. The message sent to the SMF from the UPF maycomprise one or more information elements. In an example, the messagecomprises a first information element indicating service performance/QoSevent trigger(s). In an example, the message sent to the SMF from theUPF comprises a second information element indicating measured serviceperformance/QoS value (s), and the measured service performance/QoSvalue (s) may be used to indicate measured service performance/QoS by anetwork function (e.g. UPF), which may comprise one or more parameters.In an example, the second information element may comprise a parameterindicating service performance/QoS value type, and this parameter may beused to indicate the type or scope of the service performance/QoS. As anexample, this parameter may comprise one or more of the following types.service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF andwireless device. service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency)between UPF and (R)AN. service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-endlatency) between (R)AN and wireless device. service performance/QoSvalue (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF and application server.service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UE andapplication server. In an example, the second information element maycomprise a parameter indicating measured end-to-end latency. In anexample, the second information element may comprise a parameterindicating measured jitter. In an example, the second informationelement may comprise a parameter indicating measured survival time. Inan example, the second information element may comprise a parameterindicating measured communication service availability. In an example,the second information element may comprise a parameter indicatingmeasured reliability. In an example, the second information element maycomprise a parameter indicating measured user experienced data rate. Inan example, the message sent to the SMF from the UPF comprises a thirdinformation element indicating service data flow template. In anexample, the message sent to the SMF from the UPF comprises a fourthinformation element indicating service/application identifier. In anexample, the message sent to the SMF from the UPF comprises a fifthinformation element indicating PDU session identifier. In an example,the message sent to the SMF from the UPF comprises a sixth informationelement indicating user identity of a wireless device.

In response to the message received from the UPF, the SMF may send tothe VPCF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report)comprising the information received from the UPF. In response to themessage received from the SMF, the VPCF may send to the HPCF a message(e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising theinformation received from the SMF. In response to the message receivedfrom the VPCF, the HPCF may send to the HAF or HNEF a message (e.g.service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising the informationreceived from the VPCF. In case of the HNEF receives the message (e.g.service performance/QoS measurement report) from the HPCF, the HNEF mayforward the message to the HAF.

In response to the message received from the HPCF or HNEF, the HAF mayadjust the service behavior accordingly in a timely manner based on theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS value (s) event trigger,and/or measured service performance/QoS value (s)) received from theHPCF or HNEF. As an example, the HAF may change the codec rate of thevideo based on the measured service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. thecurrent service performance of the communication system may not be ableto support the 8k Ultra High Definition(UHD) video, the codec rate ofthe video may be changed to 4K UHD). The HAF may send to the HPCF amessage (e.g. application/service information provision) for thechanging of application information. As an example, the HAF may analysiswhich part of delay (e.g. from wireless device to access network, accessnetwork to core network, or core network to the application server) maybe the reason causing a long end-to-end delay between application serverand the wireless device. As an example, the HAF may determine that theend-to-end delay may be caused by the delay between the core network andthe application server, the HAF may send to the HPCF a message (e.g.HTTP PUT) indicating the changing of the route policy between the corenetwork (e.g. UPF) and the application server. The HPCF may send to theVPCF a policy to select a better route which has short delay between UPFand the application server compare to the current end-to-end delay; theVPCF may forward the received policy to the SMF, and the SMF may send tothe policy to the UPF for enforcement.

Example 6

In an example, an application server (e.g. HAF), HPCF and/or HNEF may bein the home network; VPCF, SMF, UPF, (R)AN and/or wireless device may bein the visited network. The HAF may send a first message to a networknode (e.g. HPCF, or HNEF). The first message may indicate a request forat least one service performance/QoS report for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. FIG. 18shows an example call flow which may comprise one or more actions.

An HAF may send to a network function (e.g. HPCF, or HNEF) a message(e.g. service performance/QoS report request, or application/serviceinformation provision) to indicate the HPCF or HNEF reporting at leastone current service performance/QoS for a service data flow, aservice/application, a PDU session, and/or a wireless device. Themessage may comprise one or more information elements. In an example,the message comprises a first information element comprising serviceperformance/QoS report indication(s), and this indication may be used toby the HAF to query current value(s) of one or more of the followingparameters for service performance/QoS: end-to-end latency; jitter;survival time; communication service availability; reliability; and userexperienced data rate. As an example, a network function (e.g. UPF) maymeasure the current value(s) of service performance/QoS parameters whenreceiving the service performance/QoS report indication(s). In anexample, the message comprises a second information element indicatingservice data flow template. In an example, the message comprises a thirdinformation element indicating service/application identifier. In anexample, the message comprises a fourth information element indicatingPDU session identifier. In an example, the message comprises a fifthinformation element indicating user identity of a wireless device. Ifthe HAF sends to the HNEF above message (e.g. service performance/QoSreport request, or application/service information provision), as anexample, the HNEF may forward the message to the HPCF.

In response to the message received from the HAF or HNEF, the HPCF maytake one or more actions. In an example action, the HPCF makes thepolicy decision based on the information received from the HAF or HNEF.In an example action, the HPCF sends to a VPCF a message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS report request) to request at least one current serviceperformance/QoS report. The message may comprise the informationreceived from the HAF or HNEF. As an example, the message sent to theVPCF may comprise the information (e.g. service performance/QoS reportindication(s)) received from the HAF or HNEF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoSpolicy). As an example, the message sent to the VPCF may comprise thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) receivedfrom the HAF or HNEF.

In response to the message received from the HPCF, the VPCF may take oneor more of actions. In an example action, the VPCF makes the policydecision based on the information received from the HPCF; As an example,the created policy(s) from the VPCF may be the same as the policy(s)received from the HPCF; as an example, the created policy(s) from theVPCF may be different with the policy(s) received from the HPCF. In anexample action, the VPCF sends to an SMF a message (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS report request) to request at least one current serviceperformance/QoS report. The message may comprise the informationreceived from the HPCF. As an example, the message sent to the SMF maycomprise the information (e.g. service performance/QoS reportindication(s)) received from the HPCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoSpolicy). As an example, the message sent to the SMF may comprise thepolicy(s) (e.g. QoS policy), where the policy(s) may comprise theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) receivedfrom the HPCF.

In response to the message received from the VPCF, the SMF may send to aUPF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS report request, or N4session establishment/modification request) to request the currentservice performance/QoS report and/or provision the policy(s) (e.g. QoSpolicy(s)). The message may comprise the information received from theVPCF. As an example, the message sent to the UPF may comprise theinformation (e.g. service performance/QoS report indication(s)) receivedfrom the VPCF and/or policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy). As an example, themessage sent to the UPF may comprise the policy(s) (e.g. QoS policy),where the policy(s) may comprise the information (e.g. serviceperformance/QoS report indication(s)) received from the VPCF.

In response to the message received from the SMF, the UPF may take oneor more actions. In an example action, the UPF monitors the serviceperformance/QoS of the service data flow(s), the service/application,the PDU session, and/or the wireless device to measure/detect the atleast one service performance/QoS event. The UPF may take one or moreways to measure/detect the service performance/QoS. In an example way,the UPF monitors service performance/QoS between the UPF and thewireless device based on an internet control message protocol (ICMP)echo function. As an example, the UPF may send to the wireless deviceping packet(s) and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g.end-to-end latency, jitter) after receiving the response from thewireless device. In an example way, the UPF monitors serviceperformance/QoS between the UPF and a (R)AN based on the ICMP echofunction. As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN ping packet(s),and calculate the service performance/QoS value (s) (e.g. end-to-endlatency, jitter) after receiving the response(s) from the (R)AN. In anexample way, the UPF queries service performance/QoS between the (R)ANand the wireless device. As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN asignaling message to query the service performance/QoS value(s) betweenthe (R)AN and the wireless device, the (R)AN may measure/detect theperformance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wireless device, andsend to the UPF a response message comprising the serviceperformance/QoS value(s). As an example, the UPF may send to the (R)AN auser plane data packet (e.g. in the header of the data packet)comprising an indication to query the service performance/QoS value(s)between the (R)AN and the wireless device, the (R)AN may measure/detectthe performance/QoS value(s) between the (R)AN and the wireless device,and send to the UPF a user plane data packet (e.g. in the header of thedata packet) comprising the service performance/QoS value(s). In anexample action, the UPF may send to the SMF a report message (e.g.service performance/QoS measurement report, or N4 sessionestablishment/modification response), and the report message maycomprise one or more information elements. In an example, the reportmessage comprises a first information element indicating measuredservice performance/QoS value (s). The first information element may beused to indicate measured service performance/QoS, which may compriseone or more parameters. In an example, the first information elementcomprises a parameter indicating service performance/QoS value type, andthis parameter may be used to indicate the type or scope of the serviceperformance/QoS. As an example, this parameter may comprise one or moreof the following types: service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-endlatency) between UPF and wireless device; service performance/QoS value(e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF and (R)AN; service performance/QoSvalue (e.g. end-to-end latency) between (R)AN and wireless device;service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-end latency) between UPF andapplication server; and service performance/QoS value (e.g. end-to-endlatency) between UE and application server. In an example, the firstinformation element comprises a parameter indicating measured end-to-endlatency. In an example, the first information element comprises aparameter indicating measured jitter. In an example, the firstinformation element comprises a parameter indicating measured survivaltime. In an example, the first information element comprises a parameterindicating measured communication service availability. In an example,the first information element comprises a parameter indicating measuredreliability. In an example, the first information element comprises aparameter indicating measured user experienced data rate. In an example,the report message comprises a second information element indicatingservice data flow template. In an example, the report message comprisesa third information element indicating service/application identifier.In an example, the report message comprises a fourth information elementindicating PDU session identifier. In an example, the report messagecomprises a fifth information element indicating user identity of awireless device.

In response to the message received from the UPF, the SMF may send tothe VPCF a message (e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report)comprising the information received from the UPF. In response to themessage received from the SMF, the VPCF may send to the HPCF a message(e.g. service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising theinformation received from the SMF. In response to the message receivedfrom the VPCF, the HPCF may send to the HAF or HNEF a message (e.g.service performance/QoS measurement report) comprising the informationreceived from the VPCF. In case of the HNEF receives the message (e.g.service performance/QoS measurement report) from the HPCF, the HNEF mayforward the message to the HAF.

In response to the message received from the HPCF or HNEF, the HAF mayadjust the service behavior accordingly in a timely manner based on theinformation (e.g. measured service performance/QoS value (s)) receivedfrom the HPCF or HNEF. As an example, the AF may change the codec rateof the video based on the measured service performance/QoS value (s)(e.g. the current service performance of the communication system maynot be able to support the 8k Ultra High Definition (UHD) video, thecodec rate of the video may be changed to 4K UHD). The AF may send tothe PCF a message (e.g. application/service information provision) forthe changing of application information. As an example, the HAF mayanalysis which part of delay (e.g. from wireless device to accessnetwork, access network to core network, or core network to theapplication server) may be the reason causing a long end-to-end delaybetween application server and the wireless device. As an example, theHAF may determine that the end-to-end delay may be caused by the delaybetween the core network and the application server, the HAF may send tothe HPCF a message (e.g. HTTP PUT) indicating the changing of the routepolicy between the core network (e.g. UPF) and the application server.The HPCF may send to the VPCF a policy to select a better route whichhas short delay between UPF and the application server compare to thecurrent end-to-end delay; the VPCF may forward the received policy tothe SMF, and the SMF may send to the policy to the UPF for enforcement.

In an example, a home PCF (HPCF) may receive from a home AF (HAF) afirst message indicating a request to subscribe to at least one serviceperformance/QoS event for a service data flow, a service/application, aPDU session, and/or a wireless device, wherein the first messagecomprises at least one of: at least one first information element (IE)indicating the at least one service performance/QoS event; at least onesecond IE indicating service performance/QoS values comprising at leastone of: a first end-to-end latency; a first jitter; a first survivaltime; a first communication service availability; a first reliabilityvalue; or a first user experienced data rate; at least one third IEindicating a template of a service data flow; at least one fourth IEindicating a first identifier of service/application; at least one fifthIE indicating a second identifier of a PDU session; or at least one sixIE indicating a user identity of a wireless device.

In an example, the HPCF may send to a visited PCF (VPCF) and in responseto the first message a second message indicating the request tosubscribe to the at least one service performance/QoS event. In anexample, the HPCF may receive from the VPCF a response message to thesecond message. In an example, the HPCF may send to the HAF a responsemessage to the first message.

In an example, the HPCF may receive from the VPCF a serviceperformance/QoS report message indicates that the at least one serviceperformance/QoS event is triggered for one of: the service data flow;the service/application; the PDU session; and the wireless device;wherein the report message comprises at least one serviceperformance/QoS value comprising at least one of the following: a secondend-to-end latency; a second jitter; a second survival time; a secondcommunication service availability; a second reliability; or a seconduser experienced data rate.

In an example, the HPCF may send to the HAF a third message comprisingthe at least one service performance/QoS value. In an example, the HPCFmay receive from the HAF a fourth message in response to the thirdmessage, comprising the updated application parameters.

According to various embodiments, one or more devices such as, forexample, a wireless device, off-network wireless device, a base station,a core network device, and/or the like, may be employed in a system. Oneor more of the devices may be configured to perform particularoperations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware, hardware,or a combination of them installed on the one or more of the devices,that in operation causes or cause the one or more devices to perform theactions. One or more computer programs can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of including instructionsthat, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus toperform the actions. Embodiments of example actions are illustrated inthe accompanying figures and specification. Features from variousembodiments may be combined to create yet further embodiments.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. At 1910, a user plane function may receive a first messagefrom a session management function. The first message may request atleast one quality of service (QoS) report for a data flow of a wirelessdevice. The first message may comprise a first information elementindicating a QoS event. The first message may comprise a secondinformation element indicating a latency value for the QoS event. At1920, a user plane function may send to the wireless device, monitoringpackets for monitoring a packet transmission latency of the data flow.At 1930, the user plane function may determine an occurrence of the QoSevent based on the packet transmission latency of the data flow and thelatency value. At 1940, the user plane function may send to the sessionmanagement function, a second message may comprise a third informationelement indicating the occurrence of the QoS event for the data flow.

According to an example embodiment, the session management function mayreceive a third message from a policy control function. The thirdmessage may request to subscribe to the QoS event for the data flow. Thethird message may comprise a third information element indicating theQoS event. The third message may comprise a fourth information elementindicating QoS values may comprise an end-to-end latency. According toan example embodiment, the fourth information element may comprise ajitter. According to an example embodiment, the fourth informationelement may comprise a survival time. According to an exampleembodiment, the fourth information element may comprise a communicationservice availability. According to an example embodiment, the fourthinformation element may comprise a reliability value. According to anexample embodiment, the fourth information element may comprise a userexperienced data rate.

According to an example embodiment, the third message may comprise afifth information element indicating a template of a service data flow.According to an example embodiment, the third message may comprise asixth information element indicating an identifier ofservice/application. According to an example embodiment, the thirdmessage may comprise a seventh information element indicating anidentifier of a PDU session. According to an example embodiment, thethird message may comprise an eighth information element indicating auser identity of a wireless device. According to an example embodiment,the third message may comprise the session management function may sendto the policy control function, a fourth message responding to the thirdmessage.

According to an example embodiment, the policy control function mayreceive a fifth message from an application function. The fifth messagemay request to subscribe to the QoS event for the data flow. The fifthmessage may comprise a fifth information element indicating the QoSevent. The fifth message may comprise a sixth information elementindicating QoS values comprising the end-to-end latency.

According to an example embodiment, the sixth information element maycomprise a jitter. According to an example embodiment, the sixthinformation element may comprise a survival time. According to anexample embodiment, the sixth information element may comprise acommunication service availability. According to an example embodiment,the sixth information element may comprise a reliability value.According to an example embodiment, the sixth information element maycomprise a user experienced data rate. According to an exampleembodiment, the fifth message may comprise a seventh information elementindicating a template of a service data flow. According to an exampleembodiment, the fifth message may comprise an eighth information elementindicating an identifier of service/application. According to an exampleembodiment, the fifth message may comprise a ninth information elementindicating an identifier of a PDU session. According to an exampleembodiment, the fifth message may comprise a tenth information elementindicating a user identity of a wireless device. According to an exampleembodiment, the policy control function may send to the applicationfunction, a sixth message responding to the fifth message.

According to an example embodiment, the second information elementfurther may comprise a first value of a jitter. According to an exampleembodiment, a user plane function may monitor and measure a second valueof the jitter. According to an example embodiment, the user planefunction may determine an occurrence of the QoS event based on the firstvalue and the second value. According to an example embodiment, thesecond information element further may comprise a first value of asurvival time. According to an example embodiment, a user plane functionmay monitor and measure a second value of the survival time. Accordingto an example embodiment, the user plane function may determine anoccurrence of the QoS event based on the first value and the secondvalue. According to an example embodiment, the second informationelement may comprise a first value of a communication serviceavailability.

According to an example embodiment, a user plane function may monitorand measure a second value of the communication service availability.According to an example embodiment, the user plane function maydetermine, an occurrence of the QoS event based on the first value andthe second value.

According to an example embodiment, the second information elementfurther may comprise a first value of a reliability value. According toan example embodiment, a user plane function may monitor and measure asecond value of the reliability value. According to an exampleembodiment, the user plane function may determine, an occurrence of theQoS event based on the first value and the second value.

According to an example embodiment, the second information elementfurther may comprise a first value of a user experienced data rate.According to an example embodiment, a user plane function may monitorand measure a second value of the user experienced data rate. Accordingto an example embodiment, the user plane function may determine, anoccurrence of the QoS event based on the first value and the secondvalue.

According to an example embodiment, the second message may comprise afourth information element indicating the latency value for the QoSevent. According to an example embodiment, the fourth informationelement may comprise a jitter value for the QoS event. According to anexample embodiment, the fourth information element may comprise asurvival time value for the QoS event. According to an exampleembodiment, the fourth information element may comprise a communicationservice availability value for the QoS event. According to an exampleembodiment, the fourth information element may comprise a reliabilityvalue for the QoS event. According to an example embodiment, the fourthinformation element may comprise a user experienced data rate value forthe QoS event. According to an example embodiment, the sessionmanagement function may send to a policy control function, a thirdmessage comprising the third information element and the fourthinformation element. According to an example embodiment, the policycontrol function may send to an application function, a fourth messagecomprising the third information element and the fourth informationelement. According to an example embodiment, the application functionmay adjust service behavior based on the fourth message. According to anexample embodiment, the packet transmission latency of the data flow maybe between the user plane function and the wireless device. According toan example embodiment, the user plane function may monitor a packettransmission latency between the user plane function and a base stationby sending monitoring packets to the base station.

According to an example embodiment, the user plane function may query apacket transmission latency between a base station and the wirelessdevice by sending monitoring packets to the base station. According toan example embodiment, the user plane function may monitor a packettransmission latency between the user plane function and an applicationserver by sending monitoring packets to the application server.

According to an example embodiment, the user plane function may receivea third message from the session management function. The third messagemay subscribe at least one quality of service (QoS) event for a dataflow. The third message may comprise an information element indicatingthe QoS event. The third message may comprise an information elementindicating QoS values may comprise at least one of: an end-to-endlatency, a jitter, a survival time, a communication serviceavailability, a reliability value, or a user experienced data rate.According to an example embodiment, an information element indicating atemplate of a service data flow. According to an example embodiment, aninformation element indicating an identifier of service/application.According to an example embodiment, an information element indicating anidentifier of a PDU session. According to an example embodiment, aninformation element indicating a user identity of a wireless device.

According to an example embodiment, the session management function maysend to an access and mobility management function, a third messagesubscribing at least one quality of service (QoS) event for a data flow.The third message may comprise a fourth information element indicatingthe QoS event. The third message may comprise a fifth informationelement indicating QoS values may comprise an end-to-end latency.According to an example embodiment, the access and mobility managementfunction may send a fourth message to a base station. The fourth messagemay comprise at least one information element of the third message.According to an example embodiment, the fifth information element maycomprise a jitter. According to an example embodiment, the fifthinformation element may comprise a survival time. According to anexample embodiment, the fifth information element may comprise acommunication service availability. According to an example embodiment,the fifth information element may comprise a reliability value.According to an example embodiment, the fifth information element maycomprise a user experienced data rate. According to an exampleembodiment, the third message may comprise a sixth information elementindicating a template of a service data flow. According to an exampleembodiment, the third message may comprise a seventh information elementindicating an identifier of service/application. According to an exampleembodiment, the third message may comprise an eighth information elementindicating an identifier of a PDU session. According to an exampleembodiment, the third message may comprise a ninth information elementindicating a user identity of a wireless device. According to an exampleembodiment, the base station may send to the wireless device, monitoringpackets for monitoring a packet transmission latency of the data flow.According to an example embodiment, the base station determining anoccurrence of the QoS event based on the packet transmission latency ofthe data flow and the end-to-end latency. According to an exampleembodiment, the base station may send a fifth message to the access andmobility management function in response to the determining The fifthmessage may comprise an information element indicating the occurrence ofthe QoS event and the packet transmission latency of the data flow.According to an example embodiment, the access and mobility managementfunction may send a sixth message to the session management function.The sixth message may comprise an information element indicating theoccurrence of the QoS event and the packet transmission latency of thedata flow. According to an example embodiment, the user plane functionmay monitor a packet transmission latency between the user planefunction and a base station by sending monitoring packets to the basestation. According to an example embodiment, the user plane function maymonitor a packet transmission latency between a base station and thewireless device by sending monitoring packets to the wireless device.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. At 2010, a user plane function may receive a first messagefrom a session management function. The first message may request atleast one quality of service (QoS) report for a data flow. The firstmessage may comprise a first information element indicating a QoS event.The first message may comprise a second information element indicating afirst QoS value for the QoS event. At 2020, a user plane function maysend to a wireless device, monitoring packets for monitoring a secondQoS value of the data flow. At 2030, the user plane function maydetermine an occurrence of the QoS event based on the second QoS valueof the data flow and the first QoS value. At 2040, the user planefunction may send a second message to the session management function inresponse to the determining The second message may comprise a thirdinformation element indicating the occurrence of the QoS event.According to an example embodiment, the first QoS value and the secondQoS value may comprise an end-to-end latency. According to an exampleembodiment, the first QoS value and the second QoS value may comprise ajitter. According to an example embodiment, the first QoS value and thesecond QoS value may comprise a survival time. According to an exampleembodiment, the first QoS value and the second QoS value may comprise acommunication service availability. According to an example embodiment,the first QoS value and the second QoS value may comprise a reliabilityvalue. According to an example embodiment, the first QoS value and thesecond QoS value may comprise a user experienced data rate.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. At 2110, a user plane function may receive a first messagefrom a session management function. The first message may request atleast one quality of service (QoS) report for a data flow of a packetdata unit session. The first message may comprise a first informationelement indicating a QoS event. The first message may comprise a secondinformation element indicating a latency value for the QoS event. At2120, a user plane function may send monitoring packets to a wirelessdevice. The monitoring packets may be for monitoring a packettransmission latency of the data flow. At 2130, the user plane functionmay determine an occurrence of the QoS event based on the packettransmission latency of the data flow and the latency value. At 2140,the user plane function may send a second message to the sessionmanagement function in response to the determining The second messagemay comprise a third information element indicating the occurrence ofthe QoS event.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. At 2210, a home policy control function (HPCF) may receive afirst message from an application function. The first message mayrequest to subscribe to a quality of service (QoS) event for a data flowof a wireless device. The first message may comprise a first informationelement indicating a first QoS event. The first message may comprise asecond information element indicating a first QoS value for the firstQoS event. At 2220, the HPCF, may determine a QoS reporting policy forthe data flow based on the first QoS event and the first QoS value. TheQoS reporting policy may comprise a second QoS event and a second QoSvalue. At 2230, the HPCF may send a second message to a visited policycontrol function (VPCF). The second message may comprise the QoSreporting policy. At 2240, the HPCF may receive a measurement resultfrom the VPCF. The measurement result may comprise a third informationelement indicating an occurrence of the second QoS event. Themeasurement result may comprise a fourth information element indicatinga measured QoS value. At 2250, the HPCF may send the measurement resultto the application function.

According to an example embodiment, the occurrence of the second QoSevent may be determined based on the measured QoS value and the secondQoS value. According to an example embodiment, the first QoS value maycomprise an end-to-end latency. According to an example embodiment, thefirst QoS value may comprise a jitter. According to an exampleembodiment, the first QoS value may comprise a survival time. Accordingto an example embodiment, the first QoS value may comprise acommunication service availability. According to an example embodiment,the first QoS value may comprise a reliability value. According to anexample embodiment, the first QoS value may comprise a user experienceddata rate. According to an example embodiment, the second QoS value maycomprise an end-to-end latency. According to an example embodiment, thesecond QoS value may comprise a jitter. According to an exampleembodiment, the second QoS value may comprise a survival time. Accordingto an example embodiment, the second QoS value may comprise acommunication service availability. According to an example embodiment,the second QoS value may comprise a reliability value. According to anexample embodiment, the second QoS value may comprise a user experienceddata rate. According to an example embodiment, the measured QoS valuemay comprise an end-to-end latency. According to an example embodiment,the measured QoS value may comprise a jitter. According to an exampleembodiment, the measured QoS value may comprise a survival time.According to an example embodiment, the measured QoS value may comprisea communication service availability. According to an exampleembodiment, the measured QoS value may comprise a reliability value.According to an example embodiment, the measured QoS value may comprisea user experienced data rate.

According to an example embodiment, a visited session managementfunction may receive a third message from the visited policy controlfunction. The third message may request to subscribe to the QoS eventfor the data flow. The third message may comprise an information elementindicating the second QoS event. The third message may comprise aninformation element indicating the second QoS value. The second QoSvalue may comprise an end-to-end latency. The second QoS value maycomprise a jitter. The second QoS value may comprise a survival time.The second QoS value may comprise a communication service availability.The second QoS value may comprise a reliability value. The second QoSvalue may comprise a user experienced data rate. The third message maycomprise an information element indicating a template of a service dataflow. The third message may comprise an information element indicatingan identifier of service/application. The third message may comprise aninformation element indicating an identifier of a PDU session. The thirdmessage may comprise an information element indicating a user identityof a wireless device. The visited session management function may send afourth message to the visited policy control function in response to thethird message.

According to an example embodiment, a visited user plane function mayreceive a fifth message from the visited session management function.The fifth message may request to subscribe to the QoS event for the dataflow. The fifth message may comprise a first information elementindicating the second QoS event. The fifth message may comprise a secondinformation element indicating the second QoS value. A visited userplane function may send to the wireless device, monitoring packets formonitoring the second QoS value of the data flow. The visited user planefunction may determine an occurrence of the QoS event based on thesecond QoS value of the data flow and a measured QoS value. The visiteduser plane function may send a sixth message to the visited sessionmanagement function. The sixth message may comprise the thirdinformation element indicating the occurrence of the QoS event. Thesixth message may comprise the fourth information element indicating themeasured QoS value. According to an example embodiment, the visitedsession management function may send a seventh message to the visitedpolicy control function. The seventh message may comprise the thirdinformation element and the fourth information element.

According to an example embodiment, the first message may comprise aninformation element indicating a template of a service data flow.According to an example embodiment, the first message may comprise aninformation element indicating an identifier of service/application.According to an example embodiment, the first message may comprise aninformation element indicating an identifier of a PDU session. Accordingto an example embodiment, the first message may comprise an informationelement indicating a user identity of a wireless device.

According to an example embodiment, the QoS reporting policy and themeasurement result may comprise an information element indicating atemplate of a service data flow. According to an example embodiment, theQoS reporting policy and the measurement result may comprise aninformation element indicating an identifier of service/application.According to an example embodiment, the QoS reporting policy and themeasurement result may comprise an information element indicating anidentifier of a PDU session. According to an example embodiment, the QoSreporting policy and the measurement result may comprise an informationelement indicating a user identity of a wireless device.

According to an example embodiment, the application function may adjustservice behavior based on the measurement result. According to anexample embodiment, the home policy control function (HPCF) may receivefrom the application function, a third message querying a QoS event forthe data flow. The third message may comprise an information elementindicating the first QoS event. The third message may comprise aninformation element indicating the first QoS value for the first QoSevent. The first QoS value may comprise an end-to-end latency. The firstQoS value may comprise a jitter. The first QoS value may comprise asurvival time. The first QoS value may comprise a communication serviceavailability. The first QoS value may comprise a reliability value. Thefirst QoS value may comprise a user experienced data rate. The thirdmessage may comprise an information element indicating a template of aservice data flow. The third message may comprise an information elementindicating an identifier of service/application. The third message maycomprise an information element indicating an identifier of a PDUsession. The third message may comprise an information elementindicating a user identity of a wireless device. According to an exampleembodiment, the home policy control function may send to the visitedpolicy control function, a fourth message querying the QoS event for thedata flow. The fourth message may comprise at least one of informationelements of the third message. According to an example embodiment, thevisited policy control function may send to a visited session managementfunction, a fifth message querying the QoS event for the data flow. Thefifth message may comprise at least one of information elements of thefourth message. According to an example embodiment, the visited sessionmanagement function may send to a visited user plane function, a sixthmessage querying the QoS event for the data flow, the sixth message maycomprise at least one of information elements of the fifth message.According to an example embodiment, the visited user plane function maymeasure a third QoS value. The third QoS value may comprise anend-to-end latency. The third QoS value a jitter. The third QoS value asurvival time. The third QoS value a communication service availability.The third QoS value a reliability value. The third QoS value a userexperienced data rate. The visited user plane function may send to thevisited session management function, a seventh message reporting thethird QoS value. According to an example embodiment, the visited sessionmanagement function may send to the visited policy control function, aneighth message reporting the third QoS value. According to an exampleembodiment, the visited policy control function may send to the homepolicy control function, a ninth message reporting the third QoS value.According to an example embodiment, the home policy control function maysend to the application function, a tenth message reporting the thirdQoS value. According to an example embodiment, the application functionmay adjust service behavior based on the third QoS value.

According to an example embodiment, the visited policy control functionmay determine a visited QoS reporting policy based on the QoS reportingpolicy received from the home policy control function. The visited QoSreporting policy may comprise a visited QoS event. The visited QoSreporting policy may comprise a visited QoS value for the visited QoSevent. According to an example embodiment, the visited policy controlfunction may send to a visited session management function, a thirdmessage may comprise the visited QoS reporting policy.

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. At 2310, a visited policy control function may receive froma home policy control function, a first message subscribing at least onequality of service (QoS) event for a data flow. The first message maycomprise a first information element indicating a QoS event. The firstmessage may comprise a second information element indicating a first QoSvalue for the QoS event. At 2320, the visited policy control functionmay send a second message to a session management function. The secondmessage may comprise the first information element and the secondinformation element. At 2330, the visited policy control function mayreceive a third message from the session management function. The thirdmessage may comprise a third information element indicating a QoS event.The third message may comprise a fourth information element indicating asecond QoS value for the QoS event. At 2340, the visited policy controlfunction may send a fourth message to the home policy control function.The fourth message may comprise the third information element and thefourth information element.

In this disclosure, “a” and “an” and similar phrases are to beinterpreted as “at least one” or “one or more.” Similarly, any term thatends with the suffix “(s)” is to be interpreted as “at least one” or“one or more.” In this disclosure, the term “may” is to be interpretedas “may, for example.” In other words, the term “may” is indicative thatthe phrase following the term “may” is an example of one of a multitudeof suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one ormore of the various embodiments. If A and B are sets and every elementof A is also an element of B, A is called a subset of B. In thisspecification, only non-empty sets and subsets are considered. Forexample, possible subsets of B={cell1, cell2} are: {cell1}, {cell2}, and{cell1, cell2}. The phrase “based on” is indicative that the phrasefollowing the term “based on” is an example of one of a multitude ofsuitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or moreof the various embodiments. The phrase “in response to” is indicativethat the phrase following the phrase “in response to” is an example ofone of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, beemployed to one or more of the various embodiments. The terms“including” and “comprising” should be interpreted as meaning“including, but not limited to.”

In this disclosure and the claims, differentiating terms like “first,”“second,” “third,” identify separate elements without implying anordering of the elements or functionality of the elements.Differentiating terms may be replaced with other differentiating termswhen describing an embodiment.

In this disclosure, various embodiments are disclosed. Limitations,features, and/or elements from the disclosed example embodiments may becombined to create further embodiments within the scope of thedisclosure.

In this disclosure, parameters (Information elements: IEs) may compriseone or more objects, and each of those objects may comprise one or moreother objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N comprises parameter (IE)M, and parameter (IE) M comprises parameter (IE) K, and parameter (IE) Kcomprises parameter (information element) J, then, for example, Ncomprises K, and N comprises J. In an example embodiment, when one ormore messages comprise a plurality of parameters, it implies that aparameter in the plurality of parameters is in at least one of the oneor more messages, but does not have to be in each of the one or moremessages.

Furthermore, many features presented above are described as beingoptional through the use of “may” or the use of parentheses. For thesake of brevity and legibility, the present disclosure does notexplicitly recite each and every permutation that may be obtained bychoosing from the set of optional features. However, the presentdisclosure is to be interpreted as explicitly disclosing all suchpermutations. For example, a system described as having three optionalfeatures may be embodied in seven different ways, namely with just oneof the three possible features, with any two of the three possiblefeatures or with all three of the three possible features.

Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may beimplemented as modules. A module is defined here as an isolatableelement that performs a defined function and has a defined interface toother elements. The modules described in this disclosure may beimplemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware,firmware, wetware (i.e. hardware with a biological element) or acombination thereof, all of which are behaviorally equivalent. Forexample, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in acomputer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (suchas C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, Matlab or the like) or amodeling/simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, orLabVIEWMathScript. Additionally, it may be possible to implement modulesusing physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmableanalog, digital and/or quantum hardware. Examples of programmablehardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs).Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed usinglanguages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDsare often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such asVHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configureconnections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionalityon a programmable device. Finally, it needs to be emphasized that theabove mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achievethe result of a functional module.

The disclosure of this patent document incorporates material which issubject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection tothe facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, for the limited purposes required by law, butotherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example, and notlimitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevantart(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made thereinwithout departing from the scope. In fact, after reading the abovedescription, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s)how to implement alternative embodiments. Thus, the present embodimentsshould not be limited by any of the above described exemplaryembodiments.

In addition, it should be understood that any figures which highlightthe functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposesonly. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible andconfigurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than thatshown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may bere-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

Further, the purpose of the Abstract of the Disclosure is to enable theU.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, andespecially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art whoare not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determinequickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of thetechnical disclosure of the application. The Abstract of the Disclosureis not intended to be limiting as to the scope in any way.

Finally, it is the applicant's intent that only claims that include theexpress language “means for” or “step for” be interpreted under 35U.S.C. 112. Claims that do not expressly include the phrase “means for”or “step for” are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of a user plane function comprising:receiving, from a session management function, a first message for adata flow of a wireless device; sending packets for monitoring;determining an occurrence of an event based on the packets; and sending,to the session management function, a second message about theoccurrence of the event for the data flow.